Holzkirchen Candle Pilgrimage to Bogenberg — Edition 2025

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07 Jun 2025 — 08 Jun 2025 Finished Free

Overview

The 2025 Pentecost Candle Pilgrimage was marked by the 550th anniversary of the first documented pilgrimage in 1475. As in previous years, the Holzkirchen pilgrims walked the 75 kilometers from Holzkirchen (Ortenburg) to Bogenberg with the 13-meter giant candle on the Pentecost weekend. The celebratory services on Pentecost Sunday in the Pilgrimage Church of the Holy Cross were more frequented than usual — the anniversary brought additional attention to Bavaria's most unusual pilgrimage tradition.

The 550-year-old tradition was honored in 2025 with festivities and a special program. Bogenberg – Bavaria's oldest Marian pilgrimage site with documented beginnings in 1104 – was the destination of a pilgrimage whose Schöfbach giant candle, the distinctive feature of the march, was crafted in the same traditional manner as back in 1475.

Approximately 400 Holzkirchen pilgrims, several thousand onlookers along the route and at Bogenberg, the giant candle on the shoulders of the carriers – the image of the Pentecost Candle Pilgrimage remains one of the most impressive in Bavarian folk piety. The recognition during the 550th anniversary reaffirmed the pilgrimage's status as intangible cultural heritage of Bavaria.

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