St. Martin's Church, Bad Goisern

St. Martin's Church is located in the heart of the spa town of Bad Goisern, just two hundred meters from the city park. This Catholic church was heavily rebuilt in the 18th century, but part of the building has survived from the end of the 15th century. The first documentary mention of the Church of St. Martin dates back to 1320, but traces of early medieval buildings have not survived. In 1495, the completely burnt church was rebuilt in the late Gothic style. In 1730, after another fire, the temple had to be almost completely rebuilt, and a hundred years later, in 1835-1837, the building was greatly increased in size, while the choirs were moved to another part of the church.

Despite the fact that Protestantism was widespread in this town, the Catholic parish of St. Martin was also very popular and attracted more and more believers. Therefore, in the middle of the 19th century, it was decided to add new premises to the church. From the late Gothic style, only the graceful vaulted ceilings inside the temple remained, especially in the former choir stalls. The northern portal, completed in 1530, has also been preserved in its original form. It features artsy columns and pointed arcades. The bell tower with a hipped roof was added already in 1863.

 

History

The first documentary mention can be found in a document from the year 1320, when the then auxiliary bishop of Passau undertook the reconciliation of the already existing Martinskirche. The consecration of the late Gothic church, which is still essentially preserved, was done by the Passau suffragan bishop Friedrich Andreas. The restoration after the fire of 1495 took place in the same year. In 1534 and 1730 the church had to be restored again after fires.

Although Bad Goisern is one of the first tolerance communities to be predominantly Protestant and therefore has had a Protestant parish church since 1782, the proportion of Catholics in the population has steadily increased. For this reason, an extension of the Martinskirche was necessary, the construction work took place in the years 1835 to 1837. The main axis was turned at right angles and the chancel of the old church was rededicated as a side chapel (Marienkapelle).

 

Church building

The newer stock of the Martinskirche is designed as a cruciform hall church with a barrel vault. The one-bay choir with ribbed vaulting and a 3/8 closure, which today forms the eastern choir arm, and the pointed arch portal in the north from 1530 with rich profiling have remained unchanged from the original Gothic building.

The west tower from 1863 has a tent roof.

 

Interior

The high altar from 1691 comes from the church in Niederthalheim. It was restored in 1959. The Baroque tabernacle comes from the church of St. Peter near Linz, today a district of Linz. The statues of St. Peter and St. Paul were created in the third quarter of the 18th century. The altarpiece is by Joseph Binder. The side altars are executed in neo-Gothic style. The altarpieces depict St. Mary and St. Sebastian and were probably painted by Ämilian Rösch in 1703. On the right side altar there are late Gothic statues of St. James and St. Florian. They were created at the beginning of the 16th century by artists around Lienhart Astl and originally stood at the old high altar.

In the former choir, which now serves as the Chapel of St. Mary, there are six Gothic panel paintings, which are also painted on the back. They show depictions from the life of Mary and other saints. Probably, they were originally altarpieces of two winged altars. They were created at the end of the 15th century in the workshop of Rueland Frueon the Elder. They were restored in 1948/49. The St. Mary's Chapel has a delicate ribbed vault resting on wall services. In addition, the architecture is accentuated by a half three-pass in the middle rhombus. There are also two Baroque paintings from the 17th century in the church, depicting the Resurrection and the Annunciation of Jesus.

The former high altar painting was made by Leopold Kupelwieser in 1845 and is now located in the nave. The late Baroque pulpit was acquired from Gramastetten in 1966, replacing a neo-Gothic predecessor.