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Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a Nineteenth-Century German Village
In a riveting work of historical research, David Blackbourn brings might the period surrounding the days in July 1876 when three young girls claimed to have sighted the Virgin Mary in the fields outside the German town of Marpingen.
As journalists, priests, and sellers of pious memorabilia descended on Marpingen, the sleepy town rapidly metamorphosed into a cause celebre, with supporters and opponents referring to it as "the German Lourdes," and even "the Bethlehem of Germany." "It is an undeniable fact that the whole world is talking about Marpingen," wrote one sympathetic commentator. "Marpingen has become the center of events that have shaken the world," suggested another.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to the town, prompting numerous claims of miraculous cures -- as well as military intervention, the dispatch of an undercover detective, parliamentary debate, and a dramatic trial.
Pondering what had happened from another perspective was a man on whom the drama placed a heavy burden. "The events are so tremendous," wrote a Marpingen parish priest, "that a true account of them would already fill a book."
Blackbourn, a leading historian of modem Germany, vividly portrays the Catholic world of the Bismarckian era through a detailed exploration of the changing social, economic, and community structures that formed its matrix, and provides a sensitive account of popular religious beliefs. Ranging widely across the fields of social, cultural, and political history, he powerfully evokes the crisis-laden atmosphere of the 1870s, revealing the subtle interplay between politics and religion, the changing nature of the family itself, and the ferment of ideas that fueled the great debate over "modernity." And in a final chapter, he looks ahead to the renewed apparitions of the Virgin in twentieth-century Marpingen against the background of war, Nazism, and the Cold War.A remarkable piece of historical detective work by an important scholar.
From the Hardcover edition.
As journalists, priests, and sellers of pious memorabilia descended on Marpingen, the sleepy town rapidly metamorphosed into a cause celebre, with supporters and opponents referring to it as "the German Lourdes," and even "the Bethlehem of Germany." "It is an undeniable fact that the whole world is talking about Marpingen," wrote one sympathetic commentator. "Marpingen has become the center of events that have shaken the world," suggested another.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to the town, prompting numerous claims of miraculous cures -- as well as military intervention, the dispatch of an undercover detective, parliamentary debate, and a dramatic trial.
Pondering what had happened from another perspective was a man on whom the drama placed a heavy burden. "The events are so tremendous," wrote a Marpingen parish priest, "that a true account of them would already fill a book."
Blackbourn, a leading historian of modem Germany, vividly portrays the Catholic world of the Bismarckian era through a detailed exploration of the changing social, economic, and community structures that formed its matrix, and provides a sensitive account of popular religious beliefs. Ranging widely across the fields of social, cultural, and political history, he powerfully evokes the crisis-laden atmosphere of the 1870s, revealing the subtle interplay between politics and religion, the changing nature of the family itself, and the ferment of ideas that fueled the great debate over "modernity." And in a final chapter, he looks ahead to the renewed apparitions of the Virgin in twentieth-century Marpingen against the background of war, Nazism, and the Cold War.A remarkable piece of historical detective work by an important scholar.
From the Hardcover edition.
Paperback
First published December 16, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 4, 2022
Blackbourn aims for impartiality in his study of what was often called "the German Lourdes," where in 1876 three little girls out berry-picking saw a woman in white, who asked them to pray and pointed them to a well with healing properties. He takes seriously the beliefs of contemporary people, both those who thought it was a true apparition and those who didn't.
Religion and piety per se are not he focus here, however. This apparition was an important event with political, economic and social ramifications.
First, a little context: Heilbrunner, where the girls lived, was a poor area and viewed as primitive by more liberal and educated Catholics. However, the belief in miracles (if not this particular apparation) was widespread and crossed class lines.
After the proclamation of papal infallibility, Bismarck viewed Catholics as a subversive element and during his Kulturkampf many priests were jailed -- so many that the normal structure of church activities were interrupted. This led to some bad press. Catholic resentment of mistreatment in turn led to fears on the part of the government of Catholic conspiracy. This fear plus concern that local work would be interrupted by the hordes of tourists and other distractions. Undercover detectives were sent to squelch conspiracy and troops were sent to prevent possible uprising. Some arrests, mostly baseless, were made.
The Church didn't have a lot to say about this apparition. Because of the aforementioned arrest of priests, the investigation that would usually have taken place did not. Some of the people who were arrested recanted their stories; of those, some later changed their accounts. Therefore the RCC remains silent on whether it was genuine.
Religion and piety per se are not he focus here, however. This apparition was an important event with political, economic and social ramifications.
First, a little context: Heilbrunner, where the girls lived, was a poor area and viewed as primitive by more liberal and educated Catholics. However, the belief in miracles (if not this particular apparation) was widespread and crossed class lines.
After the proclamation of papal infallibility, Bismarck viewed Catholics as a subversive element and during his Kulturkampf many priests were jailed -- so many that the normal structure of church activities were interrupted. This led to some bad press. Catholic resentment of mistreatment in turn led to fears on the part of the government of Catholic conspiracy. This fear plus concern that local work would be interrupted by the hordes of tourists and other distractions. Undercover detectives were sent to squelch conspiracy and troops were sent to prevent possible uprising. Some arrests, mostly baseless, were made.
The Church didn't have a lot to say about this apparition. Because of the aforementioned arrest of priests, the investigation that would usually have taken place did not. Some of the people who were arrested recanted their stories; of those, some later changed their accounts. Therefore the RCC remains silent on whether it was genuine.
November 30, 2014
The skill with which Blackbourn has situated the Marpingen apparitions within their time and place allows him to show a weak and disorganized Prussian state, a Church that was rapidly losing control not only in the public sphere but also over lay Catholics, and villagers who were struggling for hope in the wake of economic hardship, family crises, and moving political borders. He reveals tensions between miners and peasants in the village, between men and women, adults and children.
See my full review here: http://wordsbecamebooks.com/2014/11/2...
See my full review here: http://wordsbecamebooks.com/2014/11/2...
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November 17, 2025A book I read in graduate school and have re-read now, almost 30 years later. I don't have the detachment to compose a review, since it was written by my own advisor.
September 20, 2023
surprisingly wildly interesting. david blackbourn is my favorite germanist maybe? he has such a talent to identify a case study & play with scale against it.
October 9, 2023
The great surprise of this examination of an apparition of the virgin Mary in the middle of Bismarck's anti-cathloc kulturkampf is how little what happened fits into our preconceptions about Imperial Germany, the 19th century catholic church, and/or struggles for paramountcy between the two. Instead of a tale of a powerful political system and autocratic hierarchical religious organisation battling each other to control ordinary Germans you find a story were very ordinary German women without status, education, money, connections, etc. manage to challenge an autocratic state and church who are revealed as being far less in control, and far less able to exercise control then they thought.
Far from being an event concocted or controlled or inspired by church officials Marpingen, very much like the events at Ezigioga, Spain in 1931 (brilliantly chronicled in William Christian's Visionaries), was something the church hierarchy struggled to gain control of - in both cases this was made more difficult, and the apparitions gained enormous publicity and large numbers of followers, because the bishop in each diocese was in exile because of the political situation. Mr. Blackbourn's book is a wonderful portrait of how apparitions of the virgin Mary are handled. Although there were hundreds of reports of sightings of the virgin throughout Europe in the 19th century (and there were probably as many in the 20th) but only a small number received any type of official acknowledgement and only a tinier number managed to rise to the position of a Lourdes (though that was the template all vision sites aimed to emulate). He does not waste time trying to answer whether or not the Virgin Mary appeared at Marpingen (just as Mr. Christian does not attempt an answer for Ezkioga) because not only is it impossible to answer but it is the least interesting aspect of Marpingen. That people claimed the virgin appeared, that people believed this and how state, church and the general public responded is what is interesting.
This is brilliantly fascinating examination of a phenomena and the history of its time. I wish I could give it ten stars.
Far from being an event concocted or controlled or inspired by church officials Marpingen, very much like the events at Ezigioga, Spain in 1931 (brilliantly chronicled in William Christian's Visionaries), was something the church hierarchy struggled to gain control of - in both cases this was made more difficult, and the apparitions gained enormous publicity and large numbers of followers, because the bishop in each diocese was in exile because of the political situation. Mr. Blackbourn's book is a wonderful portrait of how apparitions of the virgin Mary are handled. Although there were hundreds of reports of sightings of the virgin throughout Europe in the 19th century (and there were probably as many in the 20th) but only a small number received any type of official acknowledgement and only a tinier number managed to rise to the position of a Lourdes (though that was the template all vision sites aimed to emulate). He does not waste time trying to answer whether or not the Virgin Mary appeared at Marpingen (just as Mr. Christian does not attempt an answer for Ezkioga) because not only is it impossible to answer but it is the least interesting aspect of Marpingen. That people claimed the virgin appeared, that people believed this and how state, church and the general public responded is what is interesting.
This is brilliantly fascinating examination of a phenomena and the history of its time. I wish I could give it ten stars.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews