Pfarrkirche Koppl

The Roman Catholic parish church of Koppl stands on a steep hill in the centre of the village of Koppl in the Salzburg-Umgebung district. It belongs to the Thalgau deanery in the Archdiocese of Salzburg and is dedicated to Saint James the Greater. The church is protected as a listed monument.

The present building dates mainly from the early 19th century, after a fire in 1816 destroyed the earlier church. The parish itself was created in 1859, but the poet Joseph Mohr served as vicar here in 1823–24. Mohr is best known as the lyricist of the Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’.

The church is a single-nave structure with a north tower and an enclosed cemetery. The exterior shows a 16th-century core with a simple cornice, a gabled west front and a polygonal chancel. Inside, the barrel-vaulted nave and narrower chancel date from about 1820. The high altar, with paintings by Franz Xaver Hornöck, and the organ case from the 18th century are notable features. A small chapel contains a baroque figure of the thorn-crowned Christ and displays registers signed by Joseph Mohr.