The Wieskirche is considered one of the most beautiful rococo churches in southern Germany. Its architecture reached such a high point that works of art history frequently speak of the "spacial miracle" of the Wies. But there is a second miracle in this church to observe here: although mainly provincial artists took part- Aegid Verhelst and Balthasar Augustin Albrecht are the exceptions - a work of the highest quality was achieved. All the artists involved, up to and including Anton Sturm and Dominikus Zimmermann, have surpassed themselves, exceeding all their previous achievements. The Abbot and Monastery of Steingaden, who commissioned the work, also exceeded all expections, sparing neither effort nor cost, in order to realize the pilgrimage church in this ideal form. The style is fresh, there is no sign of stinginess. Even in the furnishing of vestments, monstrance and chalices, the monastery showed a well -nigh royal generosity. As a church built in the age of rationalism, it was thoroughly planned that every minute detail was thought through. However, this 18th Century also prized gifted people and allowed them to use their spontaneous inspiration. Such spontaneous inspiration is God-given. Therefore, the artists and theologians had here the mission of spreading and proclaiming joy. So was the aim of a contemporary engraving in which the Wies and its blessed figure were termed: "an ever-flowing source of forgiveness". And, in this vein, a book of miracles from 1746 was entitled: "Gnaden-Blum" (Flower of Grace). The theological program of the Wies takes special note of the eschatological character of Christ's church. They ought not limit themselves to an effect in the present, they aimed far more to present the second coming of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem. In both its architecture and its theological thinking was the Wies Church well ahead of its time. That this isolated pilgrimage church near Steingaden could be termed in 1803 "a totally useless building", shows that its message and sense of being were not any longer understood. Despite threatened demolition, immediately following the Secularization (1803), the Wies Church was preserved, and with it the possibility of experiencing God through beauty and a unique art experience.