Wegner Grotto, Wisconsin

Paul and Matilda Wegner worked on this sculptural garden starting around 1929, after Paul retired from his career running a garage. They apparently were inspired by the Dickeyville Grotto, also in Wisconsin, where the local pastor made an elaborate sculptural garden on the grounds of his church in Dickeywille in the 1920s. The Wegners made some religious sculptures, like the Prayer Garden and Glass Church, but others too, like a rock encrusted ocean liner. Paul died in 1937, and Matilda in 1942, though the roadside site stayed in the family, and survived. It was purchased by the Kohler Foundation in 1986, restored and stabilized, then gifted to the county, which has committed to keep it accessible to the public. It is one of a number of well-preserved and elaborate Catholic grottos and self-built figurative concrete sculpture parks in the state, rescued by the Kohler Foundation.