St. Michael

The east-facing church is built as a plain mendicant-order church and has no true transept. At the level of the central nave bay two lower chapels adjoin it: the Marian chapel on the right and, on the left, a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. The square chancel is regarded as the oldest part of the building; instead of a tower the church carries a roof turret. A stone cross tops the west façade, and in a shell niche a three-metre stone sculpture shows the patron Michael fighting Satan, created in 1635 by the Miltenberg sculptor Zacharias Huncker the Elder. Above the portal stands Mary with the Christ Child between two angels, beneath the Latin inscription HIC EST DOMUS DEI ET PORTA CAELI – „This is the house of God and the gate of heaven“.

The single-nave interior is Neo-Baroque. Colour-accented pilasters divide the nave into three bays, whose ceiling paintings take up the angel theme: the Expulsion from Paradise above the organ gallery, Michael's battle against Lucifer in the central bay, and the Annunciation in the front bay. The present altars all date from the 20th century; the high altar was made in 1909, with a modern celebration altar in front of it.

The Marian chapel to the right of the nave, consecrated in 1701, holds the true goal of the pilgrims: the wooden, carved devotional image „Maria von der Freude“ from the 14th century. The figure, just 75 centimetres tall, shows a seated, gently smiling Mary holding a sceptre in her right hand and supporting the Christ Child with her left; the Child, in a teaching pose, presents a book. Above the image the Coronation of the Virgin by the Holy Trinity is depicted, flanked by St. Joseph and St. Anne. Tombs along the side walls show that the chapel also served at times as a burial place – the Engelberg has been the official burial place of the House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg since 1724.

The shortest ascent from Großheubach runs up the „Engelsstaffeln“ (also called the „Himmelssteige“, or Steps to Heaven) with their 612 steps; the way is lined with Stations of the Cross and six wayside chapels. From Miltenberg to the south-east the „Maria-Hilf-Weg“ leads up through the forest to the shrine, passing the Maria-Hilf chapel built around 1690. North of the church, past the monastery cemetery and through an archway, lies the „Franziskus-Garten“ with a bronze figure of the saint as „God's Minstrel“.

Since November 2024 the Oblates of St. Joseph have lived on the Engelberg, having founded their first community in Germany here (officially on 3 November 2024). The monastery remains a destination for many pilgrims and day-trippers and is known for its dark beer, matured in wooden casks and served in the monastery tavern. The church is open on Mondays and from Wednesday to Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.