Ehingen am Ries: Churches, Chapels and History

Ehingen am Ries combines a distinctive religious history with other historical traces across the municipality. The simultaneous parish church of St. Stephen and Ulrich, the Chapel of St. Aloysius and the historic sites in Belzheim each highlight different aspects. The wider setting is also worth exploring: in the broader travel destination of Donau-Ries, topics range from the history of the Ries crater to museums and important churches.

The Simultaneous Church and Chapel History in Ehingen

The simultaneous parish church of St. Stephen and Ulrich contains a Romanesque crucifix, considered the oldest surviving work of art in the Ries. The church also represents an enduring denominational distinction: the division resulting from the Reformation of 1550 continues in the form of the Simultaneum. Catholics and Protestants share what is currently Bavaria’s only simultaneous church. The crucifix offers an art-historical perspective on the church, while the Simultaneum points to its religious history and the shared use that continues to this day.

The Catholic Chapel of St. Aloysius tells a different local story. It stands in Ehingen outside the cemetery, but was originally built in Lohe. After the death of the last Catholic there in 1877, the chapel was moved to Ehingen. Its original location and current site therefore belong to different chapters of its history. Visitors considering the buildings by theme can distinguish between the shared use of the simultaneous church and the relocation of the Chapel of St. Aloysius.

Historical Sites in the Municipality: Belzheim

Belzheim, within the municipality of Ehingen am Ries, offers its own points of interest. The Catholic parish church of St. Michael was built in 1608 and given a Baroque makeover in 1682. Its construction and later alteration mark two distinct phases in its history. The Chapel of St. Anthony in Belzheim was built by former Bavarian State Minister Anton Jaumann, adding another named chapel to this ecclesiastical focus.

The Belzheim burial mound group offers an archaeological point of interest. Excavations uncovered the remains of wooden burial chambers containing grave goods of varying value. The chambers lay beneath earthen mounds of different sizes. Taken together, the sites in Belzheim offer different ways of exploring the past: church construction and later alteration, a chapel with a named builder, and archaeological finds from burial mounds. Each of these aspects remains tied to its location in Belzheim.

The Wider Travel Destination of Donau-Ries

In the wider travel destination of Donau-Ries, the Ries Geopark—with the Ries crater formed by a meteorite impact—is a tourist attraction. The Kühstein Geopark trail explains the impact processes that took place 14.5 million years ago at eight information boards. From Buchberg, visitors can enjoy a panorama of the Ries and its inner and outer crater rims. This geological perspective on the formation of the Ries complements the religious and local history that shape Ehingen am Ries and Belzheim.

For a focus on urban history, the town museum in Nördlingen offers a different thematic perspective. It covers the lives and faith of Nördlingen’s residents, the changes of the Reformation era, the Thirty Years’ War and the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen. The collection, which is more than 150 years old, spans four floors; a model made from around 6,000 tin figures illustrates the 1634 battle. The medieval town wall in the same town is fully preserved and completely accessible. These examples from Donau-Ries complement the local perspective with urban, military and museum history, without conflating these places with Ehingen.

Another sacred site in the wider travel destination of Donau-Ries is the Maria Brünnlein pilgrimage basilica. The Rococo church was built between 1748 and 1782 to designs by Franz Joseph Roth as the flow of pilgrims increased. The miraculous Virgin Mary in the shrine altar is a work by Johann Joseph Mayr, dated 1755; Ernst Steinacker created the altar table with its fountain bowl in 1953. In 1998, Pope John Paul II elevated the basilica to the status of a minor basilica. Around 150,000 pilgrims visit it each year. By contrast, the focus in Ehingen is on the Simultaneum and the shared use of the church by Catholics and Protestants.

Discover more destinations: Wallerstein, Kaisheim, Marxheim, Monheim, Nördlingen, Oettingen in Bavaria, Tapfheim, Wemding.

Back to the wider travel overview: Donau-Ries.