Healing water in the Wolfgang Fountain

The legend of a Regensburg bishop established the reputation of the St. Wolfgang healing spring.

Sandra Angermaier tells these and many other stories in her new Facebook film.

St.Wolfgang / District -

The thermal water of Therme Erding, which was found there in 1983 during oil drilling

now world-famous.

The district of Erding has been known for its numerous medicinal springs since the middle of the 16th century.

The best example of this is St. Wolfgang.

Here in 975 the Regensburg bishop Wolfgang came on his way to today's Wolfgangsee in the Goldachtal, where the population complained to him about the bad water.

According to legend, Bishop Wolfgang threw his ax into the valley, and at the point where the ax struck, a spring gushed out of the ground.

Sandra Angermaier, a clerk at the District Home Association, sheds light on this topic in her film series “Verborgener Landkreis Erding”.

For the episode "The older siblings of Therme Erding" she visited springs and Heilbründl and tells her story.

The healing springs were the origin of pilgrimages in earlier centuries, explains the local researcher.

Pilgrimage churches were built in the places where people found relief.

The St. Wolfgang spring attracted numerous pilgrims, was captured and built over with a chapel, in which the so-called Wolfgang Fountain can still be found today.

Both the chapel and the place got their name from Bishop Wolfgang.

"On the way to Lake Wolfgang you will find many more Wolfgang churches," reports church caretaker Anne Karl-Rott, who often accompanies tours in the parish church.

“The church itself was built over the original chapel in the 15th century, so it was like a church within the church,” she explains, referring to the depiction of Saint Wolfgang, who is depicted with the attributes of a church on his arm and a shepherd's staff.

Karl-Rott proudly refers to the Miracle Books, in which the healings attributed to the source are written down: “The books are in the Bavarian State Library in Munich.” The long-standing sexton and chairwoman of the parish council can say that the mineral spring still attracts visitors today , Heidi Kern, confirm.

"In the intercession book lying next to the altar, the believers can enter their concerns, which will then be included in the intercessions in the service if possible." The spring water should be good for the eyes and general well-being.

Kern also knows from entries about the strengthening of the illness.

For visitors who would like to take home a small souvenir of the founder of the healing spring, Saint Wolfgang, there is a small ax with a short text about the creation of the chapel.

"These devotional objects are placed on the silver reliquary and a prayer is said about them," explains church caretaker Karl-Rott, who often welcomes dowsers to tour the church.

The inflow of the spring can still be seen through a grid in the church floor, which is covered with a wooden lid.

In addition to the altar in the chapel, there is also a small fountain with a metal scoop.

Angermaier also shows these traces of the old healing spring in her film sequence during her tour of the St. Wolfgang parish church with its very special atmosphere.

The late Gothic sacred building offers special features such as the wooden choir stalls, which are reminiscent of its time as a collegiate monastery.

Representations of the Wolfgang legend can be found on the high altar, as well as panel paintings of the old high altar.

Karl-Rott knows from experience: "Even today the citizens of St. Wolfgang trust their saints when they have problems." He still guards his church and the fountain at the entrance to the parish church, always accompanied by his landmarks - an ax and a church.

Gerda and Peter Gebel