Maria Zell Basilica Historic Pilgrimage Church

Historic Hechingen

German
French

Maria Zell presumably dates back to a monastic cell of cloister St. Gallen with the cell already in existence in the year of 789 during the christianisation of the region. This monastic cell developed into the settlement „Zell“, including the parish church of the holy Gallus. Nothing remains of this early Zell however, since the inhabitants left the village in order to settle in the nearby village of Boll in the valley during the 14th and 15th century. The little church „Maria Zeller Kirchlein“  solitary at the mountain, almost completely burned down in the 30 year's war during the siege of castle Hohenzollern. Just a few years later however the church was rebuilt to be consecrated the parish church of Boll in 1655. The ensuing period saw the rise of pilgrimages to the little church since, according to tradition, the shrine of Our Lady was spared in the pillaging. The term „Mariazell“ is first mentioned around the year 1700.

The building you can see today originated in the year 1757 when the church was fundamentally rebuilt and expanded. Planning and direction were headed by Großbayer, a builder from Haigerloch.