Outstanding romanesque church Basilika St Michael — Attraction in Altenstadt (VGem)

A must stopping point if you are on a tour about the history of Bavaria/Swabonia and/or sacral architecture of the Pfaffenwinkel!

Altenstadt nowadays seems like a sleepy little local community, however was of international relevance for the transalpine trade in early mediveal times. An importance which was expressed by the then wealthy local traders and then local rulers (family line of Andechser-Meran) in this representative sacral building. At it's time, the religious standing of the building was comparable to the nowadays cathedrals in Cologne, or the dome in Florence.

The building itself is one of the best examples of pure romanesque style sacral buildings in the region (besides the church tower in Wessobrunn), beatifully restored in the last century.

If you want to have a visual impression (and contrast!) of the religious view and architectural expression of the religious understanding of the early medieval communities in the region this is a MUST before you proceed to the churches in Steingaden, the famous Wies-Kirche, the "Diessener Himmel", the Marien Münster in Diessen, or Ettal as examples of the further developed sacral architecture in the region.

A visit will take up to 30 minutes depending on the details you're focussing on. Most impressive is the atmosphere created by the...

a well preserved church from medieval ages, originally the church of the Old Schongau. it looks like a Fortress, the surrounding scenery is calm and the interior is simple with no decorations but its beauty is about the...

Empfehlenswert ist in jedem Falle, sich vor (!) dem Besuch über den doch recht außergewöhnlichen Werdegang des Gotteshauses bei WIKIPEDIA zu informieren. 😀 Dann fällt es leichter, sich nach dem großen Staunen auf das Wesentliche zu konzentrieren, und die jahrhunderte-alte Baukunst auf sich wirken zu lassen. Jede Stilrichtung ist ein Kind ihrer Zeit, weshalb es sich nach meiner festen Überzeugung generell verbietet, den einen Stil gegenüber dem anderen zu überhöhen, oder gar auszuspielen. Großer, gepflegter Parkplatz für 🚘 PKW. 🚾🚻...