Wieskirche | Pilgrimage Church of Wies, Steingaden, Bavaria | Bayern, Germany

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (in German Wieskirche or the full name: “Wallfahrtskirche zum Gegeißelten Heiland auf der Wies“)) is an oval rococo church from the late 1740s designed by brothers Johann Baptiste and Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, in Steingaden in Germany. Construction took place between 1745 and 1754

It is said that, in 1738, tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure of the Savior. 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 realized 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 altar have claimed that people have been miraculously cured of their diseases, which has made this church even more of a pilgrimage site.

There is a popular belief that the Bavarian government planned to sell or demolish the rococo masterpiece during the secularization 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 (Weltkulturerbe) in 1983 and underwent extensive restoration between 1985 and 1991.