Pfarrkirche Hohenberg, Lower Austria

The Catholic parish church of St James the Elder stands on the western side of the main street in Hohenberg, a small market town in the Lilienfeld district of Lower Austria. The present building dates from about 1630, replacing an earlier church first mentioned in 1325 when it became independent of St Aegyd am Neuwalde. A restoration in 1980 added a chapel on the north side and moved the main entrance to the south wall. The church is protected as a listed monument and belongs to the deanery of Lilienfeld in the diocese of St Pölten. Inside, the five-bay nave and straight-ended choir share the same width under a 17th-century barrel vault with lunettes. The organ loft, in neo-Gothic style, rests on six wooden columns and contains an instrument built by Rieger in 1985. The high altar of 1691 shows the patron saint flanked by baroque angels, while the side walls display the fourteen Stations of the Cross painted by Josef Baldauf in 1852. Stained glass by Franz Pitza from 1953 depicts local saints including Leopold and Christopher. Outside, a round-arched niche holds a war grave for Second World War dead, and a cross-shaped stone marks the grave of Magdalena Krikl from 1783. Nearby, the parish house has its own memorial listing the fallen of both world wars. Within the church, two heraldic slabs survive from the 16th and 17th centuries, adding to the quiet dignity of this early Baroque landmark.