Saint Nicholas Church

The parish church of Mutters stands in the village centre of Mutters in the Austrian Alps. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and belongs to the Wilten-Land deanery in the Diocese of Innsbruck. The church, with its surrounding cemetery, was barockised and is now protected as a listed monument. The church’s history begins in 1327, when an indulgence letter mentions a church dedicated to Saints Nicholas, Erhard and Martin. By 1440 it was declared unsafe and rebuilt from 1460. The high altar and the altar of Saint Sebastian were consecrated in 1469. After a village fire in 1727 destroyed the tower and roof, the nave received a new barrel vault decorated with stucco and frescoes by Anton and Josef Anton Zoller in 1759. Later restorations uncovered and restored the Zoller frescoes, while the Madonna and Child returned to the high altar in 1963. The church’s exterior shows a late-Gothic nave with buttresses and a polygonal choir. The 54-metre tower on the south side carries a sundial from 1736 and a painted angel by Josef Anton Zoller. Inside, the nave is divided by pilasters and covered by a barrel vault with rich rocaille stucco and frescoes. The high altar of 1790 houses a 1710 Madonna and Child flanked by statues of Saints Augustine, Norbert, Nicholas and Martin. Side altars, pulpit, baptismal font and the 1909 Stations of the Cross by August Mair complete the furnishings.