Another highlight of Fussen was visiting two churches. At the edge of the town was an abbey, high on a hill. We climbed up through lovely trees on cobblestone ways until we reached the central court and entered the church of St. Mang (have to look up his story one day). Marty and I are interested in experiencing the themes or central messages of each church we visit so we were curious what we’d find here. While the outside of the church was unremarkable, the inside was alive with Baroque style pink marble and frescoes. Swirling and catching your eye, the walls and ceilings seemed alive with stories of rapture. The windows were clear glass cut in circles. The ceiling conveyed the entry of St Mang (we guessed) departing from this very church into heaven—a picture within a picture. Defeating death, which lay at St Peters gate, there were angels about to cover St Mang with a lovely pale green veil.
What interested me even more was at the back of the church, there were steps down to the baptistery. Dark, cold and grey, this low ceilinged room has a massive covered font and around it, simple painted figures of Jesus’ passion—one with Jesus on a donkey, another depicting the agony in the garden, with the 3 disciples asleep. Going back up stairs, you could really feel the belief system of the church’s designers: Passing through the waters of baptism allows us to experience God’s love and salvation. It was an interesting and expressive church!
Next we headed out of town to visit Wieskirche (church in the field). Marty remembered attending Christmas services there many years ago. Greta (aka our GPS unit) suggested we turn right on this fairly narrow road. We hesitated but had grown to trust her implicitly so we took a right turn. In the next few minutes we traversed through lovely fields with cows and neat farm houses and barns…and still no church. We kind of reached a dead end and decided to turn back. On our way we passed a sprightly young couple on bicycles, mom with a toddler on the back of hers. While they spoke German, they knew enough English to tell us nicely that we were on the bike path to Wieskirche. They had a map, gave us good directions and smiled good bye with a greeting that they’d see us at the church.
Back on the ROAD, we found the church easily (and a great parking lot). This church is truly out in a field, quite a striking with its whitewalls and neat trim as you pass through agrarian country. Stepping into this church, our first thought was—this is HEAVEN! A rococo style church, clouds, white and puffy fluffed the walls, accompanied by saints and Jesus and Mary, everybody happy and peaceful. The effect was glorious, relief from the tough life we imagined farmers lived day to day. The marble pillars and alters were pink and blue swirls, more colorful than St Mangs but reminiscent. I don’t remember stories of Jesus’ passion in this church—it was all glory and honor. Wieskirche is just a lovely spot in the countryside and worth a stop on our way through the area.
What interested me even more was at the back of the church, there were steps down to the baptistery. Dark, cold and grey, this low ceilinged room has a massive covered font and around it, simple painted figures of Jesus’ passion—one with Jesus on a donkey, another depicting the agony in the garden, with the 3 disciples asleep. Going back up stairs, you could really feel the belief system of the church’s designers: Passing through the waters of baptism allows us to experience God’s love and salvation. It was an interesting and expressive church!
Next we headed out of town to visit Wieskirche (church in the field). Marty remembered attending Christmas services there many years ago. Greta (aka our GPS unit) suggested we turn right on this fairly narrow road. We hesitated but had grown to trust her implicitly so we took a right turn. In the next few minutes we traversed through lovely fields with cows and neat farm houses and barns…and still no church. We kind of reached a dead end and decided to turn back. On our way we passed a sprightly young couple on bicycles, mom with a toddler on the back of hers. While they spoke German, they knew enough English to tell us nicely that we were on the bike path to Wieskirche. They had a map, gave us good directions and smiled good bye with a greeting that they’d see us at the church.
Back on the ROAD, we found the church easily (and a great parking lot). This church is truly out in a field, quite a striking with its whitewalls and neat trim as you pass through agrarian country. Stepping into this church, our first thought was—this is HEAVEN! A rococo style church, clouds, white and puffy fluffed the walls, accompanied by saints and Jesus and Mary, everybody happy and peaceful. The effect was glorious, relief from the tough life we imagined farmers lived day to day. The marble pillars and alters were pink and blue swirls, more colorful than St Mangs but reminiscent. I don’t remember stories of Jesus’ passion in this church—it was all glory and honor. Wieskirche is just a lovely spot in the countryside and worth a stop on our way through the area.
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