Antoniuskapelle St. Andrä

The Antoniuskapelle stands beside the Timmelbach stream in the upland village of St. Andrä, a short walk north of the road that links the parish to Wallhorn. Built in the late 1990s on gently rising meadowland at about 1,345 metres, the chapel replaces an earlier wooden building swept away by an avalanche in January 1951. The new structure was commissioned by Elisabeth and Chrysanth Berger, with the Matrei planning office Steiner responsible for its design. The old statue of Saint Anthony and the Maria-Hilf bell were rescued almost intact from the snow and reinstalled inside the replacement chapel. Inside, the rectangular chapel is lit by two round-arched windows in each long wall and by the exposed roof timbers above the raised choir. The floor is paved with natural stone slabs, rising one step at the altar, which is a single block of stone topped by a wooden statue of Saint Anthony holding the Christ Child and a book. Flanking the altar are two further wooden figures, traditionally identified as Joseph and Mary. Two painted panels depict the Virgin and Child, and a hinged wooden relief shows a Crucifixion scene. Outside, the white rough-cast walls contrast with smooth plaster accents around the cross on the gable, the window reveals and the eaves. A small bell-cote with ball finial and weathercock crowns the rounded apse, and the entrance is a round-headed door set in the gable. A short flight of steps leads from the lane up to the chapel, placing it just above the level of the surrounding hay meadows.