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Loretto Hospital history comes alive in presentation

Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Wade Olsen presents to a large crowd at the New Ulm Public Library Thursday night. Olsen, along with Dan Groebner, spoke on the history of Loretto Hospital in New Ulm and the legend surrounding its name.

NEW ULM — The Loretto Hospital casts a long shadow on the history of New Ulm, but what does it mean?

Thursday night Dan Groebner and Wade Olsen gave a dual presentation on history of Loretto Hospital and the legend of the Loretto name.

Groebner has a personal history with Loretto. He was born at Loretto, was a patient in the hospital and was employed there starting as an orderly. After retiring as a doctor from New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) Groebner began to explore the legend of Loretto. His interest peaked while on a tour of Europe this summer with Olsen.

Olsen runs a personalized European tours group called Travel Wade Tours. In 2017, he and Groebner visited Landshut, Germany. At the St. Martin’s Church, the two noticed a statue of the Madonna and child that was labeled as the Loretto Madonna.

From there the two became curious about the Loretto name. Churches, schools and hospitals all across the United States and Europe have the name, but the source of the name is rarely told.

Groebner was able to track the origins down to a small costal community in Italy called Loreto (spelled with a single “t”). A shire was built in this Loreto to honor a miracle that occurred in 1294 in which a tiny church was said to have been lifted up by angels. The site is reported to be a place of healing miracles, which explains why Loretto is often used as a hospital name.

Groebner said the history of Loretto Hospital of New Ulm began in 1883 with the creation of St. Alexander’s. After a few years, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ were asked to take over of the operation as they had experience with nursing and medical care. The Sisters changed the name of the Hospital to Loretto in 1912.

Groebner said there was never an official explanation for the name change. His research has not turned up any specific reason for the change to Loretto, but he believes the Sisters were inspired by the Loreto legend.

In 1963, a new Loretto Hospital was built on the site of the current New Ulm Medical Center. Groebner said the core of the new Loretto building is still part of the NUMC.

Soon after the construction of the building, a painting was commissioned for the hospital that depicted the miracle of Loreto, which is a picture of the small church being lifted up by angels. This painting would remain in Loretto Hospital for many years, but its current location is unknown.

Loretto and Union Hospital would eventually merge into the NUMC in 1980. In the late 1970s the rise in Medicaid and Medicare made it impossible for a city the size of New Ulm to run two hospitals.

Groebner said the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ likely realized their time in New Ulm was reaching an end as early as the late 1960s. He said they were experts in running hospitals as their order managed them across the country. They would have seen the signs early on that a merger was necessary.

Olsen began his own research into the Loreto/Loretto legend in response to Groebner’s interest. In the last year he traveled to several churches and shires that share the name. During the presentation, he showed pictures of these religious sites located in Prague.

Olsen said he and Groebner will continue to research more of Loretto’s history and welcome input and stories from the public.

Groebner can be reached by phone and at the email address of danthogro@comcast.net.

Olsen can be contacted at Wade@TravelWade.com.

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