Schwanau island in Lake Lauerz is occupied by a ruined castle, a chapel and a restaurant. Traces of occupation on the island date back to around 1200 BC. There is little documentary evidence relating to the castle, but it is believed to have been built at the end of the 12th century and to have been ruined, probably as a result of a fire, as early as the middle of the 13th century.
The island in known to have been occupied by hermits at various times, including the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1684 a chapel was built on the island, but this was destroyed by the tsunami that followed the 1806 Goldau landslide. In 1808 the council of the church in Schwyz sold the island to General Ludwig Auf der Maur on the provision that he rebuild the chapel. The island remained in the possession of the general's descendants until 1967, when it was purchased by the canton of Schwyz. In 2009 it was completely renovated.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.