During the French period, when foreign troops were advancing against Einsiedeln in 1798, the monastery decided to bury the miraculous image of the "Black Mother of God" for three months not far from today's chapel in order to protect it from the advancing French. The hiding place was initially decorated with a "Helgenhäuschen".
As this site continued to be revered in later years, some local residents joined forces in 1870 to build a chapel. Their altarpiece, painted by Karl Keller, depicted the "Burial of the Image of Grace". The original prayer house above the place where the miraculous image was buried initially contained a copy of the miraculous image, which is now in the Langberg chapel above Lauerz.
In 1920/21, the old prayer house had to make way for the construction of a higher and larger beautiful new building, in which Our Lady with the Child greets the entire valley basin. It was built according to the plans of architect Josef Steiner and consecrated in 1921 by the then Schwyz parish priest Franz Odermatt.
Author
Jeannette Reichmuth
