Ottobeuren Abbey

Founded in 764, the abbey was rebuilt in the eighteenth century on a scale out of proportion to the town: the church is about ninety metres long with towers of eighty-two metres, one of the largest baroque churches in Germany, finished in 1766. Johann Michael Fischer designed the final building and Johann Jakob Zeiller frescoed the ceilings. The choir holds two organs built by Karl Joseph Riepp in the 1760s in the French manner, which survive largely unaltered and are used for recordings and recitals; two further instruments were added later, so four organs stand in the one church. Benedictines still live here.

What you actually see

• The scale - a ninety-metre rococo church in a small town.
• The Riepp organs - two 1760s instruments in the French style, unaltered.
• The Zeiller frescoes - painted ceilings across nave and transepts.
• The monastery rooms - library and theatre in the conventual buildings.

When to go

Year-round; the church is open daily and closes during services. Organ recitals run on a published schedule, mainly in summer. The museum keeps shorter winter hours.

Honest expectations

It is one building in a small town with limited other reasons to stop. Services interrupt visits. Museum access to the monastery is separate and restricted.

Nearby

Memmingen lies north; the Allgäu Alps rise south.