Fürstenfeld Parish Church

Town Parish Church of St. John the Baptist

The church was founded around 1200 by the Knights of St. John. During the Hajduk invasion in 1605, the church was badly devastated and plundered, and the pews and altars were destroyed. From 1772 to 1778 it was rebuilt to its present form under the direction of master builder Leopold Ainspinner. Of the two towers existing at that time, the one on the west side was demolished. In 1945, shelling by German artillery caused severe damage. Work on repairing the damage continued until 1947. In 1988, the onion dome was rebuilt after a private initiative was able to secure the financing. The redesign of the chancel (1995) was by Gottfried Johannes Höfler. In 2003, two of the former 20 stained glass windows from the Mission Church of St. Severin, which had been abandoned in 1985, were installed in the church. "The Creation of Nature" by Hans Wolf from 1965 and "The Creation of Man" by Erika Wolf-Rubenzer from 1964.

MALTESER ORDENSKOMMENDE

The Fürstenfelder Kommende is the oldest branch of the Knights of St John in Austria. It was founded around 1200 as a hospice. In 1605 it was devastated and burnt down by the Hajduks. In 1664 (Battle of Mogersdorf) Raimund Count Montecuccoli moved his headquarters here. In 1945 the Kommende was badly damaged and not rebuilt to its original size. STADTPFARRHOF It was built in 1723 under Commendatore Poppo Count Dietrichstein and town priest Dr. Kaspar Walter Soecker. In 1945 the building was badly damaged. In 1993, the vicarage was thoroughly renovated and modernised. The Latin inscription above the entrance to the vicarage reads in German translation: "After Charles the Sixth's coronation as king in Prague and while Elisabeth was there awaiting her birth by God's grace, (this building) was erected from the ground up under the gracious patronage of Gundakar Poppo Dietrichstein and with the benevolent support of Kaspar Walter Soeker, parish priest and doctor of sacred theology." The inscription contains a "chronogram" typical of the Baroque period, i.e. the letters in red in the inscription give the year 1723.