Engelberg Abbey, Franciscan monastery near Grossheubach, Germany

Engelberg Abbey is a monastery above Großheubach, reached by 612 sandstone steps, the Engelsstaffeln, laid out in 1637 as a pilgrim route. The white three-storey building with a dark slate roof has two wings meeting at a square tower with a steep pyramidal roof; the wooden entrance door sits near the tower base. The church interior is neo-Baroque, with a 1909 high altar under a gold sunburst.

A wooden chapel dedicated to Saint Michael was built on the hill around 1300, when the site was still called Rulesberg; a Marian statue followed around 1310. The oldest authentic pilgrimage charter dates from 1406. In 1630 the Archbishop of Mainz, Anselm Casimir Wambolt von Umstadt, brought the Capuchins, who built the monastery and church; the Engelsstaffeln stairway was laid out in 1637. The Capuchins were expelled in the secularisation of 1803, and King Ludwig I of Bavaria had the Franciscans reopen the house in 1828.

The pilgrimage here honours two figures: the Archangel Michael, patron of the church, and Mary as "Queen of the Angels". A Marian statue, documented from 1310, is venerated as a miraculous image. The oldest authentic pilgrimage charter dates from 1406. The monastery is also the burial place of the princely house of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

The climb on foot is demanding and requires sturdy footwear and good balance, especially during wet or icy conditions. Once at the top, you will find a guesthouse with food and drinks plus areas to explore at your own pace.

The three-metre stone sculpture of Archangel Michael fighting Satan is not inside the church but on the west facade, set in a shell niche and carved in 1635 by the Miltenberg sculptor Zacharias Huncker the Elder. Above the main portal, the triangular gable holds a Madonna and Child flanked by two angels, with the Latin inscription HIC EST DOMUS DEI ET PORTA CAELI.