Wallfahrtskirche Maria Gern, Catholic pilgrimage church in Berchtesgaden, Germany

Wallfahrtskirche Maria Gern is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church on the Reitbichl hill at the southwest foot of the Kneifelspitze, above Berchtesgaden. Its interior is an ellipse with a north choir and a south porch, separated by a wrought-iron grille made in 1777 by Johann Prandtner. The two-storey south tower has a double-stepped dome and the whole building is covered in wooden shingles except the tower tip; pink pilasters and window surrounds stand on white walls.

Pilgrimages to Maria Gern are documented from around 1600, when they went to a smaller chapel further down the valley with a different grace image. After Wolfgang Hueber carved a new Madonna and brought it to Gern in 1666, a round chapel was built around 1669 on the site of the present church. It soon proved too small, so around 1680 a small church with nave, tower and sacristy replaced it. The present church was built from 1708 to 1710 by Berchtesgaden craftsmen; the first Mass was celebrated on 2 January 1710, and the fixed tent roof and tower were completed and the church consecrated on 21 November 1724.

The carved Madonna and Child by Wolfgang Hueber, brought to Gern in 1666, stands at the centre of the walnut high altar made in 1715. It is dressed in one of 24 baroque ceremonial robes according to the church year. The ceiling, stuccoed by Joseph Schmidt of Salzburg, carries over 20 frescoes by Christoph Lehrl showing the life of Mary, set among more than 50 putti.

A wide staircase in four flights leads up the Reitbichl hill to the church, which stands at the southwest foot of the Kneifelspitze. The building is almost exactly north-south aligned, with the tower at the south end and the sacristy at the north. The hilltop offers views of the Untersberg to the north and the Watzmann massif to the south.

The dragon under Archangel Michael on the high altar's upper section has a woman's leg, a detail easily missed from the nave. The altar itself was carved in 1715 from walnut by three Berchtesgaden craftsmen, and the grace image it frames was carved by Wolfgang Hueber in 1666.