Echternach Abbey and St Willibrord Church

In the 4th century A.D., the hill on which the church stands was fortified with towers and a surrounding wall. Around the year 1000, a Romanesque building was erected in the form of a three-nave basilica. In the 15th century, the church was transformed and enlarged in the Gothic style. After the Second World War, archaeological excavations and restoration work gave the Sanctuary its present appearance.

The renewal of the Catholic Church after the Council of Trent (1545-1563) resulted in the revival or creation of numerous small pilgrimages, in particular in honour of the Virgin Mary. Thus in 1654 the priest Petrus Fisch built a Marian chapel at the town gates. In a perspective-effect niche behind the main altar, a Pièta reflects the many sufferings that the population underwent in the 17th century. The veneration of the Passion and the Guardian Angel, portrayed in a number of significant works of art, was also widespread in this era.

The church was erected in 1782-83 in accordance with the architectural plans of Johann Anton Neurohr of Trier. It was transformed and renovated several times. It is a simple and unpretentiously built single-nave church whose striking features include the monumental glass window from the 1950s, a Westenfelder organ built into the tower in 1983 as well as many other artistic works.