The pilgrimage church in Maria Rain

The parish and pilgrimage church in Maria-Rain, also called “the most beautiful village church in the Allgäu”, was built in 1496.

Today’s church is characterized by late Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo styles. The three-part high altar is unique. The frescoes and figures, the pulpit with gilded carving relief and carrying gel and the side altars are particularly beautiful works of art.

Building and pilgrimage history

The history of the church in Maria-Rain goes back to the Middle Ages. The tradition (an inscription from the late 18th century in the southern omen) reports of a church already in the 11th century, but there is no reliable news from this time. Excavations in 1976 confirmed a church from around 1414. As early as 1439, Peter, Cardinal von Schaumberg and Bishop of Augsburg, set up a foundation to establish a chaplaincy – but Maria-Rain was not elevated to parish until 1852.
In 1496 Bishop Friedrich von Zollern approved the construction of the present church. This building has undergone a number of changes over the years. At the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, the courts of Wertach and Rettenberg had the nave arched in gratitude for the salvation from the war. The Gothic windows were soon replaced by round arched windows after 1700 – the present tracery of the windows in the choir was not reconstructed until 1940/43 when the churches were renovated according to old models.