Pilgrimage Fährbrück — Feast of the Assumption of Mary

A Marian Shrine with 850 Years of History

The pilgrimage church of Fährbrück sits solitarily between fields and meadows not far from the B 19, between Würzburg and Werneck. Its origins date back to 1164, when a knight donated land to Benedictine monks who built a small chapel here. The place became famous for the Gregoriusstein, a baptismal font whose collected rainwater pilgrims attributed healing powers to.

After destructions during the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, a wooden chapel was built in 1651. The influx was so great — at times 3,000 to 4,000 pilgrims daily — that it had to be expanded as early as 1653. The current baroque building was erected by the Würzburg master builder Antonio Petrini between 1685 and 1697.

Mary, Duchess of Franconia

The devotional image was created by the sculptor Johann Peter Wagner in 1798: it depicts Mary as "Duchess of Franconia" with a scepter, while the Christ child holds the orb. Over the centuries, various orders have looked after the pilgrimage site — Benedictines, Carmelites, Redemptorists, and most recently from 1880 to 2023 the Augustinians, who worked here for 143 years.

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary

The High Feast of the Assumption of Mary on August 15th is the highlight of the pilgrimage year. The prelude on the eve, August 14th, is the candlelight procession: with burning candles, singing, and prayer, the faithful walk in four stations around the church. A wooden Madonna figure, traditionally borrowed from Volkach, is carried by members of the Catholic Men's Association St. Hubertus; a brass band, altar servers, the Hubertus Brotherhood, and volunteers participate in the procession.

On the High Feast itself, the community celebrates the festive service, and in the evening, a Marian Vespers follows — in recent years in the Byzantine rite with the Eastern Church Choir of the Catholica Unio Würzburg. Fährbrück thus remains a vibrant place of pilgrimage: around 25 foot pilgrimages from the parishes of the diocese reach the site every year.