Pfarrkirche St. Leonhard am Wald

The Catholic parish church of St Leonard and its graveyard stand on a hill above the hamlet of St Leonard am Walde, on the eastern edge of Waidhofen an der Ybbs in Lower Austria. Built as a fortified church, it overlooks the surrounding countryside from its elevated position. The church and the walled cemetery around it are protected as historic monuments. The church began as a chapel first recorded in 1435 and was consecrated in 1443. It served as a vicariate until 1778 and became a parish church in 1939. The late-Gothic hall has two naves and a five-sided choir, with a tall west tower rising above the entrance. Inside, the Baroque high altar of 1740 fills the apse, flanked by statues of Sts Corbinian, Jerome, Paul and John, and topped by an image of St Michael. The church’s organ is a single-manual Baroque instrument with a carved three-part case. A bell cast by Konrad Nusberger in 1655 hangs in the tower. The graveyard, enclosed by a stone wall, contains simple headstones and small memorials typical of the region. The churchyard path leads past these quiet markers to the church door.