In 1330 the abbey was founded in the upper Bavarian village of Ettal by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian due to a pledge concerning his safe return from a crusade to Italy. A part of the pledge was the extension of the traffic infrastructure to the South.
The church was finished in 1370, the Baroquan style was formed in the 18th century, thogether with a gotic rotunda from Enrico Zuccalli.
During the Reformation the abbey was deeply damaged. 1710 abbot Placidius Seitz founded the akademy of knights and therewith started the academic tradition of the abbey Ettal. 1803 the abbey was nullified in the course of sakularization. The buildings where awarded to the Kingdom of Bavaria. Not until many proprietorial changes the abbey Ettal was given to the abbey Scheyarn in 1900.
Today the abbey operates a big agricultural enterprise, some guest houses, a brewery, a distillery, a humanistic grammar school and a fine art publisher.
