Altötting (Germany)

Located just a few miles from the German-Austrian border, in the lovely Upper-Bavarian Alpine region between Munich, Passau and Salzburg, dukes held court in Altötting as far back as 748. But the town really gained largesignificance after the year 1489, when a miracle was reported in a local church. 

The pilgrimage town Altoetting is located in the lovely Upper-Bavarian Alpine region between Munich, Passau and Salzburg and at just a short distance to lake Chiemsee with the famous fairy tale castle Herrenchiemsee.

For more than 1250 years, this town has been the spiritual centre of Bavaria and for more than 500 years the most significant place of pilgrimage in Germany in veneration of the Virgin Mary. More than 1 million pilgrims and visitors per year seek the “Black Madonna”, a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. Opposite the altar the hearts of the Bavarian Dukes, Kings and Electors are stored in richly decorated silver urns as a special sign of the deep and loyal ties to the Bavarian national Shrine. Among them also the heart of the fairy tale king Ludwig II.

Today, Altoetting is a vibrating pilgrimage centre with festive church services, candlelight processions and around Pentecost the arrival of numerous pilgrimage groups on foot