Waldsassen Basilica and the Chapel of the Trinity
Waldsassen is located in the northeast of the Free State of Bavaria, 5 km from the Czech border. For a day trip, it is actually much too far from us and because of the location, you also pass there rather rarely "by chance". However, when we were in Nuremberg for a weekend, we took the opportunity. From there, it's still a 1.5 hour drive, but since the drive was largely on the highway, it was quite doable.
The basilica [↗] was originally built around 1700 as a monastery church of the Cistercian nuns. In the meantime, however, it has also become a parish church and was elevated to the status of basilica minor in 1969. The Cistercian abbey also still exists resp. exists again. Its nearby former kitchen garden has been transformed into a nature experience garden and can be visited for a small fee.
Since we visited the baroque church on a beautiful Saturday morning, we had expected a lot of people. After all, it is considered one of the most remarkable baroque churches in Bavaria. Surprisingly, the church was almost empty. During the whole time we were there, there were never more than a handful of other visitors. At times we were all alone.
We did not visit the crypt or the library of the abbey. This was still closed and we would have not been allowed to take pictures inside anyway. But it is said to be quite nice.
4 kilometers north of the city is the Chapel of the Trinity [↗] or "Kapplkirche". Originally it belonged to the abbey mentioned above and was completed even a little earlier than the basilica. In addition to the unusual shape, the ceiling paintings inside are particularly impressive. Again, we were almost completely alone.
