Kevelaer Sanctuary
The city of Kevelaer is one of the most famous and largest Marian pilgrimage sites in Germany.
Probably the most important date for the history of Kevelaer is June 1, 1642. Just before Christmas 1641, at the crossroads of the old trade routes Amsterdam-Cologne and Münster-Brussels, the Geldrian merchant Hendrick Busmann heard three times the mysterious cry: "On this spot you shall build me a little chapel!".
Triggered by these events, he made the decision to heed the call. On June 1, 1642, the image of the Virgin Mary was placed in the chapel. Even today - 379 years later - the place of pilgrimage Kevelaer has lost nothing of its attractiveness.
In 1987, on the occasion of the Marian World Congress, Kevelaer was visited by Pope John Paul II, St. Mother Teresa, as well as by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Bendict XVI.