The central building with a 12-sided floor plan is particularly impressive due to the outstanding stucco decoration by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and Johann Georg Üblherr as well as the ceiling fresco, which depicts the Benedictine heaven and its main saints under the Trinity.

Ettal Monastery is known worldwide with its impressive baroque basilica and rococo sacristy

The history of the monastery

1330 Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian founded the Benedictine monastery of Ettal as a fulfillment of a vow for his safe return to Bavaria.
Practical purposes were associated with the pious pledge foundation, such as securing traffic routes, developing the area and setting up a foundation for knights and their wives.

1370 The church was completed after 40 years of construction.

1710 Ettal Monastery acted as Knight Academy and was one of the most important secondary schools of that time.

1744 After a major fire and destruction of the church and monastery, the monastery complex was redesigned into the form it still has today by Enrico Zucalli (court architect) and the Wessobrunner Josef Dirt.

The 1725 stuccoed and by J. Zimmermann 1747 Rococo sacristy painted by JJ Zeiller is still considered the most beautiful rococo sacristy in southern Germany.

Accessibility information:

The basilica can be reached via barrier-free paths and ramps; there is a disabled toilet on site at the monastery shop.