Side altars and side chapels
The interior with its canopy structure appears like a tent that pilgrims can experience as secure and protective. This impression is emphasised by the wing-like arrangement of the side altars by Johann Baptist Straub (1704-1784).
Eastern side altars
The altarpieces by Johann Andreas Wolff (1652-1716) show the death of Saint Benedict on the left and Saint Rasso as “Commander of Bavaria” on the right. Pope Saint Gregory the Great and Pope Saint Leo IX are seen in the oval images above, going back to the three Sacred Hosts. The altarpieces are flanked by the “Four Chaplains of Mary”, from the left Saint Ildefonso of Toledo, Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Saint Bernhard of Clairvaux and Saint Hermann the Lame.
Western side altars
These show the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and the Archangel Michael at the Last Judgement. The left altarpiece is ascribed to Elias Greither of Weilheim (1615). Johann Georg Knappich from Augsburg painted the right altarpiece around 1672.
Wachsgewölbe (candle vault) – votive candles
Around 250 wax candles from five centuries are stored in the Wachsgewölbe today. It is not open to the public.
Pilgrimage groups, cities, municipalities, guilds, brotherhoods, noble families, parishes and individual pilgrims donated numerous candles for Bavaria’s oldest pilgrimage site over time. Only a few survived the fire of 1669. The “Vöhlin candle” from 1594 is the oldest one. In 1727, the largest and heaviest candle (2.40 m; 42 kg) was carried to Andechs by the citizens of Augsburg.
The side chapels
The side chapels give an impression of the devoutness, artistry and creative power of people around the Heilige Berg over the course of past centuries and to this day.
