Originally built in the 13th century for the von Trugenhofen family, the Taxis castle was later owned by the Öttingern, the Helfenstein and the Katzenstein families. In 1734 it was inherited by the princely house of Thurn and Taxis. The family expanded the Burg (a medieval fortification) into a Schloss (a ornate and comfortable building). In addition to expanding the original buildings, English gardens and terraces were added.
Today the castle is owned by the princely house of Thurn und Taxis and is not open for visitors.
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.