The first hill fort overlooking the valley of Wolfach was built by Count Rapoto I von Ortenburg around 1120. Due to the power of Ortenburg house there were many conflicts with neihgbor states in the late 12th century and early 13th century. The castle was destroyed in one of these wars in 1192 and subsequently rebuilt. The medieval castle was sacked and almost completely destroyed in Landshut War of Succession in 1504.
The current Ortenburg castle was built in its current form as a renaissance castle in 1562. The interior furnishing of the halls had been first completed in 1800. Therefore, the castle holds interior decoration and art dating back over the course of two centuries. The precious coffered ceiling of the castle chapel is particularly worth noting. The ceiling, which had been made with five different types of wood, is among the most significant renaissance wood ceilings in Germany. Further art treasures included the knights’ hall and the renaissance inner courtyard. Today, the castle is home to the Ortenburg Castle Museum.
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.