Heilige Stiege, Sacred staircase in Endenich, Germany.

The Heilige Stiege is a staircase with 28 marble steps that leads to the choir of the pilgrimage church sitting on Kreuzberg hill. Brass crosses mark certain steps, and paintings of Christ's Passion line the walls.

Cologne's prince-elector Clemens August of Bavaria funded the Heilige Stiege in 1746 and consecrated it in 1751. It was the last work in the Electorate of Cologne by Balthasar Neumann, the architect of the Würzburg Residence. The stair copies the Scala Santa in Rome, said to come from Pontius Pilate's palace and brought to Rome around 326.

Pilgrims climb the 28 steps on their knees on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, using each step for a prayer until they reach the altar with Christ the Redeemer on the cross. The devotion copies the Scala Santa in Rome, said to come from Pilate's palace and to have been climbed by Jesus before his condemnation. In the Rhineland, Bonn's is the only staircase of this kind.

The staircase is open on Good Friday, Holy Saturday and 14 September, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. On those days pilgrims climb the 28 steps on their knees. Outside these dates the building can only be viewed from outside.

Brass crosses on the second, eleventh, and twentieth steps carry special religious meaning. These markers reveal a layer of spiritual intention that visitors might otherwise overlook.