Fort Rhijnauwen was built between 1868 and 1875 as part of the New Dutch Water Defence Line. Because of its architectural style and good state of preservation, the fort is historically unique. Due it was closed to the general public for years it became a paradise for many endangered plants and animals. There are also weasels, foxes, roe, grass snakes and many varieties of butterflies. In winter, hundreds of bats hibernate in the fort. The fort consists of bombproof shelters, powder magazines, barracks, flank defences, group shelters and a large practice and parade square. Surrounding the complex is a double moat. Today, the fort can be visited on a guided tour.
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.