Name of Monument:

Catholic Benedictine Abbey and Pilgrimage Church of St. Mary

Also known as:

Monastery Church Ettal

Location:

Ettal, Upper Bavaria, Germany

Date:

1710–1726: façade and new construction of the chancel; 1744–1753: completion of the domed structure; 1769–1790: furnishing of the chancel

Artists:

Architecture: Enrico Zuccalli (c. 1642–1724), Joseph Schmuzer (1683–1752); frescos: Johann Jakob Zeiller (1710–1783), Martin Knoller (1725–1804); stucco: Johann Georg Üblher (1700–1763), Franz Xaver Schmuzer (1713–1775); side altars: Johann Baptist Straub (1704–1784); reliefs in the chancel: Roman Anton Boos (1733–1810); niche figures on the facade: Ägid Verhelst (1696–1749)

Denomination / Type of monument:

Ecclesiastical architecture (abbey church)

Patron(s):

Abbots Placidus II Seitz (gov. 1709–1736), Benedikt III Pacher (gov. 1739–1759), Bernhard II. von Eschenbach (gov. 1759–1779), Othmar II. Seibold (gov. 1779–1787), Alphons Haffner (gov. 1787–1803)

History:

The Benedictine Abbey was founded as votive by Emperor Ludwig (Louis) the Bavarian in 1330 and was consecrated in 1370. Under Abbot Placidus II Seitz large scale changes to the monastery buildings were initiated, and in 1710, the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone for the church’s reconstruction based on the existent medieval central-plan building took place. Enrico Zuccalli prepared the architectural plans and set to work on the construction of the new facade with its to-date unfinished towers. The high altar was consecrated in 1726. After a disastrous fire in 1744, which destroyed the greater part of the alterations, as of 1745, construction continued under the direction of the Wessobrunn master builder Joseph Schmuzer.

Description:

The two-storey facade is a paraphrase of Bernini's Louvre-project and was designed by Enrico Zuccalli, the electoral court architect and Bernini scholar. The niche-figures of the apostles are by Ägid Verhelst, these are enclosed within voluminous Baroque curves and a fenestrated and lantern-crowned dome construction which soars mightily above them. The dodecagonal central-plan building and the easterly attached new chancel have a two-storey ambulatory, which originates partly from the era of the Gothic construction. On the inside, a lavishly stucco-decorated organ loft is located over the entrance portal. The wall spaces have in each case a shallow niche with an altar, crowned with rocaille-cartouches, above which high windows lead the eye to the dome. Luxuriant stucco decorations with capricious rocaille, coquillage and foliage are ascribed to Johann Georg Üblher and Franz Xaver Schmuzer. The elliptical-shaped Louis XVI chancel, with its rational-coolish marble work, forms a contrast to the main room and includes the three-part high altar with the medieval miraculous picture. Installed at the basement-level of the chancel rotunda, four gilded, wood carved reliefs by the Roman Anton Boos illustrate scenes of the Life of Christ.

The Baroque architecture of the pilgrimage church of St. Mary and its splendid Rococo decoration add up to a complex masterpiece, created by the architects Enrico Zuccalli and Joseph Schmuzer, and based on an existent medieval central-plan building. Carved altarpieces of Johann Baptist Straub and the large ceiling fresco by Johann Jakob Zeiller crown the interior decoration which contrasts with the coolish Louis XVI style of the chancel.

How Monument was dated:

Archival sources.

Special features

Glory of the Benedictine Order

Main dome

1752

Johann Jakob Zeiller (1710–1783)

The large dome fresco glorifies, approved by the Holy Trinity, the mission of the Benedictine Order in terms of God’s plan for salvation and includes several hundred figures.

Side altars

Niches of the main room

1757–1762

Johann Baptist Straub (1704–1784); Johann Jakob Zeiller (1710–1783); Martin Knoller (1725–1804)

Six virtuosically carved altars mounted in the niches flanking the chancel arch depicting patrons (from left to right: St. Catherine, St. Corbinian, Holy Apostles, Holy Family, St. Benedict, St. Sebastian) as well as the pulpit, are regarded as masterpieces of Johann Baptist Straub. The altarpieces, flanked by sculptures, were made among others by Martin Knoller and Johann Jakob Zeiller.

Presentation of the Miraculous Picture

Over the chancel arch

1752

Johann Jakob Zeiller (1710–1783)

The fresco depicts the Abbey’s foundation legend, as in Pisa the donor Emperor Ludwig (Louis) the Bavarian receives the miraculous picture from an angelic-looking monk.

Assumption and Heavenly Reception of the Virgin Mary

High altar and dome of the chancel

1769: fresco; 1786: high altarpiece painting

Martin Knoller (1725–1804)

The complex Neoclassical dome fresco depicts Christ’s reception of the Virgin Mary in heaven together with biblical figures. It is clearly related to the high altarpiece depicting the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Relief cycle, Life of the Virgin Mary

High altar

1787/88

Roman Anton Boos (1733–1810)

Ten oval, gilded lead reliefs with pictures depicting the Life of the Virgin Mary are mounted on the marble high altar.

Selected bibliography:

Koch, L., Ettal. Benediktiner-, Pfarr-, Wallfahrtskirche (Grosse Kunstführer 3, 4th revised edition), Munich/Zürich 1980.
Vollmer, E.C., Der Wessobrunner Stukkator Franz Xaver Schmuzer. Ein Meister des süddeutschen Rokoko (Bodensee-Bibliothek 24), Sigmaringen 1979, pp. 54–9.
Dischinger, G., Johann und Joseph Schmuzer. Zwei Wessobrunner Barockbaumeister (Bodensee-Bibliothek 22), Sigmaringen 1977.
Hoffmann, R., Das Marienmünster zu Ettal, Augsburg 1927.

Citation of this web page:

Caroline Straube "Catholic Benedictine Abbey and Pilgrimage Church of St. Mary" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;de;Mon12;15;en

Prepared by: Caroline Straube
Translation by: Caroline Straube
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: DE3 15