Ettal Abbey

Ludwig the Bavarian founded the abbey in 1330, and it was built around a twelve-sided rotunda, an unusual plan attributed to a vow made on his return from Italy. Fire destroyed much of it in 1744 and the rebuilding produced the present baroque church with a wide dome frescoed by Johann Jakob Zeiller, one of the largest dome paintings in Germany. Benedictines still live here and run a boarding school, a brewery producing beer sold locally, a distillery making Ettaler Klosterlikör from a recipe of herbs, and a cheese dairy. The valley setting under wooded slopes is part of the effect.

History

Ettal Abbey was founded on 28 April 1330, the day of Saint Vitalis of Milan, by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in the Graswang valley, in fulfilment of a vow made on his return from his coronation in Rome. The first Gothic church, built between 1330 and 1370, was modest beside the great churches of medieval Bavaria. In 1709, under Abbot Placidus II Seiz, a golden age began with the founding of a Knights' Academy that grew into a highly successful school; in 1744 the abbey and its church were largely gutted by fire, and the abbey was dissolved in 1803 in the secularisation of Bavarian church property (Wikipedia, Ettal Abbey).

Highlights

• The domed church - a rotunda plan with a very large baroque fresco.
• The brewery - monastic beer produced and sold on site.
• The liqueur distillery - Klosterlikör made from a herb recipe.
• The valley setting - the abbey enclosed by wooded Ammergau slopes.

When to go

Year-round; the church is open daily with closures during services. The shop and brewery outlet keep normal trading hours. Winter brings snow to the valley.

Before you go

It is a working monastery and school, so most of the complex is closed. The church can be shut for services. Brewery tours are limited.

Nearby

Oberammergau lies north; Linderhof is west.

Key facts