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Greifenstein castle was first mentioned in 1158. The castle was largely destroyed in the second half of the 13th century during the wars between Count Meinhard II of Tyrol-Gorizia and the Bishop of Trent. The reconstructed castle became property of the lords of Starkenberg after the last member of the family of Greifenstein was killed in the Battle of Sempach in 1386.
Greifenstein was besieged for weeks by Duke Frederick IV of Austria-Tyrol first in 1418 and again in 1423. During the second time castle was conquered in 1426. After the Habsburg family took the possession. Today Greifenstein lies in ruins.
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.