Laufenburg is a castle located in the municipality of Langerwehe in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The castle was first mentioned in historical records in the 13th century and is believed to have been built in the 12th century. It is a typical example of a medieval hill castle, with a rectangular keep and a surrounding wall with four corner towers.
Throughout its history, Laufenburg has been owned by a number of noble families, including the Lords of Heinsberg and the Dukes of Jülich. In the 20th century it was restored after been damaged in the World War II. Today it has an restaurant.
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.