The skeletons of the Church of St. Magnus

Anyone who enters the courtyard of the monastery through the early Baroque gate will immediately notice the 55 meter high church tower of the St. Magnus Church, but also the surrounding area monastery complex with early and late Baroque wings, the St. Magnus (Vincentinus and Maria) churchdates from 1185

Known as “Holy Bodies,” they are the skeletons of Christian martyrs who were exhumed from the catacombs of Rome between 1688 and 1765. The skeletal relics are dressed in elaborate 18th-century garmonts and covered in jewels.On both sides of the altar there are glass showcases of the catacomb saints St. Valentin on the right and St. Vincent on the left. Against the side walls of the church you will find small display cases containing relics that mainly consist of loose bones. Unlike the wax faces on other catacomb saints, the wax faces in Bad Schussenried are part of the original decoration. The thick wax is complemented by a wig made of tightly curled and incredibly fine gold wire. Both saints have wax coated faces and the jury’s still out on which one is more terrifying.The interior of the 800-year-old church shows three stylistic eras, almost flow imperceptibly into each other: late Romanesque, late Gothic, late Baroque. The ceiling paintings (1745-1746) by the Munich court painter Johannes Zick are certain impressive. A visit to the famous wood-carved choir stalls (1715-1717) of the sculptor Georg Anton Machein is an extraordinary art historian event for visitors to St. Magnus Church. It contains images from the irrational animal and plant world and from the mysterious realm of naughty people and demons. Statues of saints commemorate male and female founders of the order. The back wall shows Biblical reliefs with scenes from the life of Jesus. This work is especially enchanting because of the wealth of figures: it contains more than a thousand sculpted heads of people and animals.