The Romanesque tower is the oldest part of Hejnum Church. It originally formed part of a Romanesque church, but the nave and choir were replaced during the mid-13th century by the presently visible, more Gothic parts. Remains of the original church were discovered during an excavation in 1914. A runic inscription above the western portal of the tower bears the inscription 'Botvid master mason'. The church remains largely unchanged since the Middle Ages and underwent a renovation in 1960.
The church consists of a nave, a more narrow choir, a sacristy and the western tower. The tower has openings for the church bells supported by colonnettes and an octagonal spire. Several stone reliefs, one portal and parts of a frieze from the original, Romanesque church have been incorporated into the façade of the presently visible church. The main portal of the church is unusually located on the north side of the church, since the church is located south of the road. The lancet-shaped windows, including the three slender windows in the east wall of the choir, are all original. The choir portal has decoration similar to that of Hellvi Church and has been attributed to a stonemason named Lavrans Botvidarsson. Internally, the church is decorated by frescos; one set dating from circa 1250 and another, by the so-called Master of the Passion of Christ, from the 15th century.
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.