Your tour begins at one of the most famous pilgrimage churches in the Berchtesgadener Land: Maria Gern. Built in 1710, the church, with the imposing Watzmann mountain in the background, is one of the most popular photo motifs in the entire region. Tip: The best photo location is along the side of the road or from the parking lot. But please do not climb the hill, as it is privately owned.
The name of the Maria Gern pilgrimage church derives from a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary carved in 1666, which symbolizes the veneration of the Mother of God. The place name "Gern" is derived from the wedge-shaped form of the high valley. In Middle High German, Keil was called "gêr" or "gêre."
The original miraculous image—a seated Madonna—was carved in 1666 by Wolf Hueber, a native of the Gerner Valley. For most of the year, it wears a valuable, gold-embroidered fabric robe, entirely in keeping with the splendor and late Baroque veneration of the Virgin Mary. Depending on the festive season of the church year, it alternates between 23 different colored, gold- and silver-embroidered silk damask robes. Only during Advent and Lent does the carved Madonna appear in a halo.
From the 1980s onward, the church, with its onion dome, typical of Bavaria, was part of the graphically redesigned packaging design of the Berchtesgadener Land dairy. The current packaging of the mountain farmer's milk depicts the Watzmann mountain with the Fendtleiten fief (► see Station 7).