The Rococo church in Bavaria with a celebrated white-and-gold interior is the Wieskirche.
The church’s full German name is the Pilgrimage Church of Wies, or Wallfahrtskirche zum Gegeißelten Heiland auf der Wies. It stands near Steingaden in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Its oval design and luminous interior were created by the brothers Dominikus Zimmermann, an architect, and Johann Baptist Zimmermann, a fresco painter and stucco artist.
The site became a pilgrimage destination after worshippers reported tears on a wooden figure of the Scourged Savior in 1738. A small chapel soon proved inadequate, so the present church was built between 1745 and 1754. Its white walls, gilded details, elaborate stucco, and illusionistic ceiling paintings make the interior a major achievement of southern German Rococo.
A common mix-up is treating “Wieskirche” as the name of a town. “Wies” means meadow, while the church is located in the municipality of Steingaden. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List in 1983.