Pfarrkirche Spital am Semmering

Short History

Today, there is nearly nothing left of the parish church, which began around 1160 and was consecrated in 1163 by Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg; at that time, it was still a small hospital church that served as protection for all traveling merchants and pilgrims on their arduous journey over the Semmering.

The current building structure can be traced back to three major construction periods: the Romanesque, the "transitional style" between Romanesque and early Gothic, and the late Gothic.

In the first construction period, the front part of today's church nave was built, to which initially only a room was attached to the north, but this was separated from the church by a wall and housed the hospital's facilities. Today, this room serves as a sacristy.

Around 1260, the church was expanded to the east. Based on documents, it is likely that a rapid increase in the population was the reason for the expansion. During this construction phase, the sacristy was also connected to the church, and subsequently, the current church tower was erected.

From 1331 to 1786, Spital belonged to the Neuberg estate.

The last extension was carried out at the beginning of the 16th century, again due to a significant increase in population.

In 1640, the beautiful Baroque high altar was built.

In 1786, the Romanesque Madonna statue was transferred from the Frauenbrunnen chapel to the church.

Until 1903, the church's building stock remained unchanged.
The exterior renovation in 1957 and the interior renovation in 1967 temporarily ended the active construction activities.
However, in May 2001, extensive renovation work began again both inside and on the exterior facade. The roof was completely renewed as part of this work.