Parish church Selbitz

The Pfarrkirche Selbitz is an evangelical Lutheran church in the village of Selbitz in Lower Austria. It stands on a quiet side street, surrounded by farmhouses and orchards. The building itself is modest, with whitewashed walls and a simple red-tiled roof. Inside, the congregation once sat on plain wooden pews facing a single focal point. A tall, narrow window behind the altar lets in a shaft of morning light.

The church is worth visiting for its well-preserved 18th-century furnishings. The pulpit altar of 1725 by Wolfgang Adam Knoll rises in a single vertical line with the altar and organ behind it. A carved angel holding a shell once hung from the lower left of two balconies, the work of Johann Nikolaus Knoll. The organ case probably came from the same workshop. The instrument itself has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1968 and 2013, yet it still plays with sixteen stops.

A visitor finds a single rectangular nave with white walls and a dark wooden floor. The pulpit altar dominates the far end, its tall columns and carved figures catching the eye. The angel now hangs near the font, its wings folded gently. The organ case stands to the right, its pipes rising behind the front grille. Outside, the churchyard holds a few weathered gravestones and a linden tree casting shade over the gate.