Augenbründl Healing Spring

The well-known Augenbründl is dedicated to St Ottilia, the patron saint of eye patients, and the water from the spring there, which gushes out of a stone base of the stone marmot, is said to have healing powers.

Located in the so-called "Frauenwald" forest, the Bründl is a stone shrine with a mosaic image of St Ottilia and has probably existed since time immemorial.

In the 1960s, at the suggestion of the then parish priest of Pierbach, GR. Eiersebner, the stone shrine was decorated with an image of St Odile, who is invoked as the patron saint of the eye-sick. Mr OSR. Mayrhofer from Pierbach created the mosaic. It was blessed on 30 July 1967.

The symbols on the image could be interpreted as follows:

The cockerel: as a reminder to be vigilant

The throat: Odilie once refreshed a languishing beggar with a refreshing drink

Book and eyes: On the one hand as a reference to the former blindness of the saints, book and eyes are also regarded as symbols of wisdom.

Abbess's staff: Odilie was abbess of the monastery she founded and named after her on the Odilienberg in Alsace.

The spring here is said to have healing powers, although there have been no scientific studies to date, e.g. according to Radion. According to tradition, a blind woman called Susanne Huemer was healed here generations ago after washing out her eyes. Even if we may not experience a healing of our visual defects today, prayer to St Odile and to God here can help to heal the blindness of our hearts.