Wallbergkirchlein Heilig Kreuz - Rottach-Egern, BY, D
N 47° 39.627 E 011° 47.458
32T E 709548 N 5282335
Little church on a mountaintop, very famous for weddings and television scenes on the Wallberg, part of the Mangfall Ridge near the Tegernsee in the Alps.
Waymark Code: WM179Z4
Location: Bayern, Germany
Date Posted: 01/10/2023
Views: 3
Side church Wallberg-Hl. Cross: history and art
The idea of building a church on the Wallberg dates back to the 1880s. On January 2, 1902, cooperator Joseph Stadler von Egern, the innkeeper Lorenz Bachmair von Weißach and his Eger colleague Joseph Höß sat together in the Wallberghaus "in a happy winter sports mood" and agreed how nice it would be if, following the example of the 1890 completed Wendelstein-Kirchlein also on the Wallberg a small church would be built.
A year later they set about founding a "Verein Wallbergkirchlein". On February 21, 1903, the founding meeting took place in the Gasthof Überfahrt. In 1905 the association already had 700 members and collected money for its project with all sorts of events in the valley and in Munich.
In July of this year, the board of the association wrote to Archbishop Franz Joseph von Stein of Munich: To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Leo XIII's pontificate. (1903) the little church should be "as a jewel box of the Tegernseer Winkel, thus visible to the north and south ... In addition to beauty and art, practical reasons also recommend the building.
The Wallberg is visited by around 8,000 people every year. It will be a welcome opportunity for many of these families, especially those who live upstairs in winter and summer, to receive a holy prayer from time to time. to hear Mass.
In addition, there are several surrounding alpine pastures, whose herdsmen and shepherds go without worship for so long." This and "the extremely open and beautiful location of the building site" made "the usefulness of the little church" appear in a bright light. "Based on these reasons and the abundantly flowing gifts" the Archbishop was asked for the most gracious permission to build the church. It was granted.
They also agreed on a plan by the renowned Munich architect Hans Schurr, which (instead of the first draft in the Romanesque style) corresponded to the "native construction" desired by the pastoral side and the royal government.
It wasn't long before the money needed was raised. The Wallberg Almgenossenschaft donated the building site. On August 11, 1907, cathedral canon Sebastian Kirchberger, a native of Tegernsee, was able to lay the foundation stone. Under the supervision of the court coppersmith Franz Ragaller, the work progressed rapidly, although all the materials had to be laboriously brought up hundreds of meters in altitude. The equipment was donated by various benefactors from near and far. So two years later Canon Kirchberger was able to do the Benediction.
On September 14, 1935, the Egern Parish Church Foundation took over ownership of the little church, so that it is now officially a subsidiary church of the parish. The parishioners and many donors contribute to its preservation to this day.
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