A red substance on the heads of a Madonna figure and baby Jesus in a chapel near Ostro, Saxony (Bautzen district) just before Easter resembled blood stains. The Diocese of Dresden-Meißen commissioned a scientific investigation of a sample collected of the blood stain. Klaus Reinhardt, Professor of Applied Zoology at TU Dresden recognized the sample as red mites. There are more than 2000 species of mites occurring in Germany and DNA investigations are underway to determine the exact species.

In a field chapel in in the Saxon village of Ostro on March 16, 2024, a red substance was observed by eyewitnesses on the heads of a statue of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus in her arms. The substance appeared to be running down from the two heads. The statue is not accessible from the outside and the phenomenon has caused believers in the region to be seeing a divine miracle. "Images had been circulated in social media reports and news reports. Believers had gathered to pray in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary," the diocese announced. However, the Catholic Church deliberately exercises particular caution when assessing apparently miraculous phenomena and therefore asked early on to refrain from religious interpretations.

© TU Dresden

The diocese therefore decided to have a sample of the substance analyzed by zoologist Prof. Klaus Reinhardt. Using a microscope, the researcher clearly identified that in this case it was mites. And he also provided a possible explanation. "When temperatures rise, it is typical for some mite species to climb to higher points. This could be one reason for the accumulation of mites on the two heads of the statue. And could even explain why the substance changed shape. An exact specification of the mite species is currently underway. There are more than 2000 mite species, all look very similar and there is hardly any specialist anymore who can identify them, so we will be looking into DNA investigations to fully solve the mystery" explains the zoologist.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Klaus Reinhardt
Chair of Applied Zoology
Tel. +49 351 463-39451
Email: