About 1300, a knight named Conrad von Tronecken is mentioned in document for the first time, and then somewhat later the Feste Troneck (fortification), which, however, is probably much older. Having been destroyed several times, by Cologne, Imperial and French troops, and then finally by an earthquake, only remnants of Dhronecken castle are left now, although a corner tower can still be climbed.
On the old castle's foundations in modern times, commercial buildings were built, and also a bigger, tall building – called the Schloss – which is today used as a forester's office. Also, a barn with beam construction serves as a community centre for the municipality of Dhronecken. The attractively laid-out castle gardens have been continuously planted and tended since 1985.
Below the castle is found a nature play area on both sides of a brook. A ford with stepping stones, a forumlike playing and gathering place on a slope, made out of mighty stone blocks, wooden footbridges over wetlands left in their natural state, playing houses, a suspension bridge and a monorail are the great attractions not only for children, but also for adults.
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.