Wallfahrtskirche, Catholic pilgrimage church in Limbach, Eltmann, Germany

The Wallfahrtskirche Maria Limbach stands between Sand am Main and Limbach in the Haßberge district. Johann Balthasar Neumann designed the late-Baroque church, built 1751–1755 on the foundations of a late-Gothic predecessor and rotated 90 degrees, so the old church's length became the new building's width. Its north-facing facade shows classical restraint, a bulbous tower rises in the south, and inside a barrel-vaulted nave of three bays leads to a two-bay choir with a rounded apse.

The pilgrimage site dates back to the 15th century, but pilgrimage declined during the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War. Prince-Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn, believing he had been healed of a hip ailment through Our Lady of Limbach, left a large sum in his will; he died in 1746 and construction began in 1751. The late-Baroque church was built to designs by Johann Balthasar Neumann on the foundations of a late-Gothic predecessor, rotated 90 degrees, and was consecrated on 7 September 1755 by Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim. Neumann did not live to see it finished.

The pilgrimage season opens on 1 May with numerous events, and its high point is the Assumption of Mary on 15 August. Maria Limbach is also a stage on the Fränkischer Marienweg, a route linking Marian shrines. A pilgrim hall was built next to the church in 1995 as a meeting place.

The church sits on the edge of Limbach village and can be reached on foot from the main road in a few minutes. The interior has a lot of detail to take in, so it is worth moving slowly and not rushing the visit.

The high altar, made in 1761 by Johann Peter Wagner, frames the late-Gothic statue of the Virgin and Child on a crescent moon, kept in a glass shrine. On the wall opposite the pulpit hangs a Pietà from 1420, dating from the early years of the pilgrimage.