Pilgrimage Church of Wies

Pilgrimage Church of Wies, Germany
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wieskirche_ph.jpg
Author: Patrick Huebgen


The Pilgrimage Church of Wies is an ornate Bavarian Rococo masterpiece located in an Alpine Valley in Steingaden, Weilheim-Schongau, in Upper Bavaria, Germany. The oval-shaped church was designed in the late 1740's by Dominikus Zimmermann who lived nearby in the foothills of the Alps.

A miracle appeared in 1738 when tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure called the Scourged Saviour. It caused a rush of pilgrims. When the small chapel could not contain the number of pilgrims the figure attracted, a separate shrine was commissioned. When claims of healing among those who have prayed before the statue spread, even more believers converge on the church.

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies was threatened with demolition at the beginning of the 19th century, when a wave of secularization swept Bavaria. Protest from local farmers managed to save it from destruction.

Pilgrimage Church of Wies was inscribed as a World Heritage Site during the 7th session of the World Heritage Committee in Florence, Italy, on 5-9 December, 1983.

Pilgrimage Church of Wies, Germany
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wieskirche.JPG
Author: Dilankf


Pilgrimage Church of Wies, Germany
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wieskirche_003.JPG
Author: Mattana


The figure of the Scourged Saviour at the Church of Wies, Germany
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wieskirche_006.JPG
Author: Mattana

World Heritage Site Inscription Details

Location: N 47 40 52.6 E 10 54 0.5 in Steingaden, in the district of Weilheim-Schongau, Upper Bavaria, Germany
Inscription Year: 1983
Type of Site: Cultural
Inscription Criteria: I, III

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