Schäftlarn Abbey was founded in 762 by Waltrich, a Benedictine monk of noble family, on his own land. During the next two centuries the monastery grew as a result of various gifts and endowments (among them the estates of Schwabing and Hesselohe). From 1140 to its dissolution during the secularisation of Bavaria in 1803, Schäftlarn belonged to the Premonstratensian Order.
In 1866 King Ludwig I of Bavaria restored possession to the Benedictines, who set up a secondary school here. The school did close between 1941 and 1945 by the National Socialists. Immediately after the war the school, which is private, was re-opened.
The present abbey buildings were constructed in 1707 to plans by Giovanni Antonio Viscardi. The church of Saint Denis, built as the abbey church, is a beautiful example of the Rococo architectural style. It was begun as a new building from 1733 to 1740 under Francois de Cuvilliés the Elder, and finished during the period from 1751 to 1760 by Johann Georg Gunetzrhainer and Johann Michael Fischer. From 1754 to 1756 the church was painted and decorated with stucco by Johann Baptist Zimmermann. From 1756 to 1764 Johann Baptist Straub worked on the altars and the chancel. There is also a formal garden here, recently restored.
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.