Ettal Abbey

Ettal Abbey was founded on April 28, 1330, by Emperor Louis IV. This occurred as part of a vow and also aimed to secure trade routes to the south and develop the surrounding area. A role was played by a statue of Mary from Pisa, the so-called Ettal Madonna, which quickly became a pilgrimage destination. The abbey church, a Gothic dodecagonal building, was constructed between 1330 and 1370 and consecrated in May 1370. After damage from a fire in 1744, it was rebuilt in the High Baroque style, giving the monastery its current appearance. During secularization, the monastery was dissolved in 1803, but was reoccupied by Benedictine monks in 1900 and has been an independent abbey again since 1907.