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.
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).
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.
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.