The “Blessing Square” for children is a piece of jewelery that was built and inaugurated in St. Ruprecht an der Raab in early summer 2017. A beautiful, carved Jesus statue in a huge oak trunk with special seating options awaits young and old at this special place of strength and encounter.
The sculpture, carved by the well-known St. Ruprecht woodcarver Hans Pendl, is made of limewood and shows Jesus with four children - one of the children is even a woodcarver - and was made under the motto of the Bible passage (Mark 10:14) “Let the children come to me, because The kingdom of God belongs to them ”, established.
The trunk in which the sculpture stands is a 130-year-old oak from Burgenland and weighs 960 kilograms. The bench in front of the Marterl is also an oak - a very special one: it grew by itself at a right angle.
The place where it was placed was also chosen with care. Hans Pendl walked the whole forest together with Hans Hierzer to find the perfect place for the Marterl. The current location was found out in retrospect by a dowser as a positive energy point.
The “Blessing Square” for children is located near the Stefanie spring in a beautiful forest that invites young and old to play in nature. It can be reached via the Burgthannerweg (labeled yellow boards) inca. 1.5 km from the main square. The bee nature trail along the Burgthannerweg is also interesting and you should also make a detour to the DDD television set, which is only a few meters away from the “Segensplatz” and offers a great view of St. Ruprecht. You can then take a detour back to St. Ruprecht via this DDD television set or you can go back to the Stefanie spring and follow the yellow signs “Burgthannerweg”. This circular route is 3.1 km long and still offers wonderful apple orchards and views of St. Ruprecht an der Raab.
With all these sights and experiences, it is a wonderful walking and hiking trail, especially for children.