Heaven, Wood & Saints

The special exhibition at the Kaufbeuren City Museum has been organised in collaboration with the Weilheim City Museum, which is currently undergoing a reorganisation. For this reason, the museum’s treasures will be on display in Kaufbeuren over the coming months.
From the late 16th century onwards, the Bavarian town of Weilheim developed into a major centre of South German sculpture. The workshops based there and their artists are collectively referred to as the ‘Weilheim School’.
Benefiting from the town’s location, its proximity to Munich and Augsburg, and the presence of numerous monasteries and churches as patrons, high-calibre workshops emerged in Weilheim that were capable of producing extensive furnishings for entire churches.
The Weilheim sculptors applied a stylistic language – shaped at the Munich court and characterised by Italian and Dutch influences – to wood carving, thereby making an important contribution to the spread of the Early Baroque in southern Germany. Demand was fuelled in particular by the Counter-Reformation, which relied on works of art to convey religious teachings.
Among the most significant workshops were those of Adam Krumpper, Hans Degler and Bartholomäus Steinle. Other important representatives of the Weilheim School include Hans Krumpper, Christoph Angermair and Georg Petel, some of whom worked at the Munich court or established their own workshops, for example in Augsburg. Through their pupils, the style of the Weilheim
School spread far beyond the region.
The exhibition features a newly developed multimedia station in which the sculptures come to life and which provides further information on the exhibits. A hands-on activity for children and families is integrated into the exhibition.
The programme accompanying the exhibition was supported by:
- Heimatverein Kaufbeuren e.V.
- Allgäu-Schwaben Literature Festival
- Kaufbeuren Music School
- querKUNST Kaufbeuren e.V.
- Kaufbeuren Adult Education Centre

Last edited on 31.07.2026