Maria im Mösl

Maria im Mösl stands in the flat Salzach valley north of Salzburg, a small Roman Catholic pilgrimage church with a tall, slender tower. The village of Oberarnsdorf belongs to Lamprechtshausen, and the church has belonged to the Benedictine abbey of Michaelbeuern since the 13th century. Its name recalls the little moor that once lay nearby, called Mösl in the local dialect. The present building grew from a 1520 church that replaced an earlier chapel from the 13th century. The tower, finished in 1467 by Master Hans from Laufen, still rises above the nave.

The church is worth reaching for its late-Gothic fabric and later Baroque furnishings. The high altar holds a late-Gothic statue of the Virgin and Child crowned in the 18th century, a probable Salzburg work of about 1520. Side chapels contain altars by Georg Itzlfelder and a painted Madonna of the Rosary from 1759. The organ case, carved and gilded in the 18th century, carries traces of repairs by several noted builders, including Andreas Mitterreiter and Ludwig Mooser. Every newly elected Salzburg archbishop still walks in pilgrimage to the church.

Inside, the whitewashed nave opens under a light vault installed after the collapse of the old stone vault in 1752. The high altar stands at the east end, the west gallery holds the organ, and side altars line the walls. Outside, the tower carries a simple onion-shaped dome after storms in the 19th century removed its upper bulb. The quiet village and surrounding fields complete the visit.