Grotto of the Redemption - 208 1st Ave NW, West Bend, Iowa

Herman Rusch started working on the Prairie Moon Garden and Museum in 1952, when he retired from 40 years of farming. The museum came first, when Rusch rented an old dance hall as a place to display his collections of unusual rock formations, natural wood oddities, taxidermy, curiosities and antique tools. After a few years he decided that the outside of the museum needed improvement, so he built a concrete flower planter. With this introduction to concrete construction, Rusch began populating his property with miniature buildings, decorative fences, towers and birdhouses built of concrete, rock and seashells.

Legend
  1. Self Portrait of Herman Rusch
  2. Planter
  3. Tall Planter
  4. Stacked Arches
  5. Birdhouse
  6. Arched Fence
  7. Terraced Planter
  8. Indian Scout on Pony
  9. Hindu Temple
  10. Watchtower
  11. Rocket to the Stars
  12. Sunspire
  13. Cactus Garden
  14. Giant Vessel
  15. Mountain
  16. Norwegian Hunter Fighting Bear
  17. Fountain of Venus
  18. Terraced Planter
  19. Plateosaurus
  20. Polar Bear and Seal
  21. Snake
  22. Triceratops
  23. Stegosaurus

The Prairie Moon Museum is located just west of Highway 35 between Cochrane and Fountain City, WI.

References and Links to the Garden of the Redemption

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