Next to the town hall of Ried there's the former local court Sigmundsried Castle. It was built in the 14th century as a three-storey tower house, and later completed with an accommodation wing. From here the trade route across the Resia Pass, the former Via Claudia Augusta, could have been controlled.
In 1471 Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, bought the castle, rebuilt it into a hunting château and named it 'Sigmundsried'. From 1841 until 1977, it was place of the county court, and since 1999, Sigmundsried Castle (Schloss Sigmundsried) is in possession of the municipality: Along a tour on the Via Claudia Augusta Cycle Route you pass this sight.
Nowadays, the cultural association SigmundsRied offers guided tours through the castle: You can enjoy the new permanent exhibition 'The Evil Road' and an authentic equipped prison cell. In former times, Sigmundsried Castle served as a prison, the underground room was also called Angstloch, that's to say narrow hole. It is said that is served as an underground entrance to the Schwaiglhaus building. Recently, some new display cases with old findings have been added. Moreover, the place is a popular venue for concerts and cultural events.
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.