Church of St. Wolfgang

The Roman Catholic subsidiary church of St Wolfgang stands high on a terrace of the Lienberg hill north-east of Kirchberg am Wechsel in Lower Austria. It belongs to the deanery of Kirchberg under the vicariate of Unter dem Wienerwald in the archdiocese of Vienna. The fortified church is listed as a historic monument. The church was founded by Artolf von Ofenpeck, named in the north portal as the ‘beginner of the house of God’. Masses started in 1405 and a pilgrimage began. The choir was built between about 1390 and 1404, the nave in the second quarter of the 15th century by Maister Michel and Jörg von Straubing. The imposing west front served as a display of power by the Kranichberg family. After being abandoned in 1782 and damaged by fire in 1918, it was rebuilt twice, first in the 1860s and again from 1919 to 1926 under architect Richard Jordan. The nave has a steep hipped roof and an octagonal wooden bell tower. The west façade features a large shouldered portal with a deep, richly moulded pointed arch and crocketed finials. The north portal shows a relief of St Wolfgang with Artolf Ofenpeck, his two sons and their coats of arms. Inside, fragments of Gothic wall paintings from around 1400 and a late 15th-century mural of St Christopher survive. The restored choir has a five-sided apse with ribbed vaulting. The church holds later furnishings including a 1735 Ecce Homo, a 1760 high altar from the Rosalienkapelle, and a Gothic sandstone pulpit on marble columns.