Wieskirche, Bavaria, Germany.

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English: Wies Church, Bavaria, Germany.

Deutsch: Wieskirche, Bayern, Deutschland.

Photo: 17 December 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (German: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo Church, designed in the Late-1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann, who lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothills of the Alps, in the municipality of Steingaden, in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria, Germany.

English: Chapel and Church, Wies, Bavaria, Germany.

Deutsch: Kapelle mit Wieskirche, Steingaden, Bavaria, Germany.

Photo: 14 December 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Flodur63.

(Wikimedia Commons)

It is said that, in 1738, tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure of The Scourged Saviour. This Miracle resulted in a Pilgrimage rush to see the sculpture. In 1740, a small Chapel was built to house the statue, but it was soon realised that the building would be too small for the number of Pilgrims it attracted, and, so, Steingaden Abbey decided to commission a separate Shrine.

Many who have Prayed in front of the statue of Jesus, on the High Altar, have claimed that people have been miraculously cured of their diseases, which has made this Church even more of a Pilgrimage site.

English: The Scourged Saviour, in its own separate Chapel.

Deutsch: Gnadenbild des gegeißelten Heilandes im Altar der Wieskirch.

Photo: 20 October 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Harro52.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Construction took place between 1745 and 1754, and the Interior was decorated with frescoes and with stucco work, in the tradition of the Wessobrunner School. "Everything was done throughout the Church to make the Supernatural visible. Sculpture and murals combined to unleash The Divine in visible form".

English: Wies Church, Bavaria, Germany.

Deutsch: Wieskirche, Bayern, Deutschland.

Photo: June 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Pipimaru.

(Wikimedia Commons)

There is a popular belief that the Bavarian Government planned to sell, or demolish, the Rococo masterpiece during the secularisation of Bavaria, at the beginning of the 19th-Century, and that only protests from the local farmers saved it from destruction.

Available sources, however, document that the responsible State Commission clearly advocated the continuation of Wies as a Pilgrimage site, even in spite of economic objections from the Abbot of Steingaden.

The Wieskirche was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983 and underwent extensive restoration between 1985 and 1991.

English: The Pulpit, Wies Church, Bavaria, Germany.

Deutsch: Wieskirche, Bayern, Deutschland.

Photo: 17 December 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The High Altar,

Wies Church, Bavaria, Germany.

Deutsch: Wieskirche, Bayern, Deutschland.

Photo: 17 December 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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