Wieskirche

Wieskirche, the Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Savior, is an 18th-century Rococo pilgrimage church near Steingaden in Bavaria, Germany, recognised for its unified interior decoration and architectural design. The church is a compact, highly ornate building that developed as a destination for Catholic pilgrimage.

Visitors come to see the richly decorated interior, ceiling frescoes and stucco ornamentation by the Zimmermann brothers and to observe the small Baroque devotional statue that inspired pilgrimages. The church’s interior is an intact example of late Baroque-Rococo ecclesiastical art and is set in a rural pilgrimage landscape.

The present church was designed by Dominikus Zimmermann and built in the mid-18th century to accommodate growing numbers of pilgrims. Its artistic programme, including frescoes and stucco, was executed contemporaneously and preserved; the site was later recognised internationally for its cultural value.

Wieskirche sits in the Pfaffenwinkel region of Bavaria near the village of Wies and is reached via regional roads from towns in Upper Bavaria; it is commonly visited as a day trip from Munich or Augsburg.

• UNESCO listing: Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding late Baroque-Rococo architecture and pilgrimage landscape.
• Architect and date range: The church was designed and built by Dominikus Zimmermann with interior contributions by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and was completed in the mid-18th century.

What to See #

• Main church building: The church building - an 18th-century Rococo pilgrimage church completed in the mid 1700s and notable for its ornate stucco, gilding and integrated fresco program.
• Frescoes and stucco: Interior frescoes and stucco work - elaborate fresco cycles and stucco decorations executed by the Zimmermann brothers and local artists, forming a unified Rococo ensemble.