In the year 1734, a country girl from the town of Wies stole a statue of the scourged Christ from a nearby monastery. Four years later, so the legend goes, the statue miraculously reappeared wet with tears. To mark the occasion, a small chapel was built at the foot of the Alps, to the north of the present church. The chapel became an important pilgrim shrine. A priest from the monastery began building the new church in 1745.