Pfarrkirche Thernberg

The Roman Catholic parish church of Thernberg stands in the village centre of Thernberg in the Scheiblingkirchen-Thernberg municipality of Lower Austria. It is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary and is linked to Stift Reichersberg. The church has been under Denkmalschutz since the late 19th century. The church’s history begins with a Laurentiuskirche consecrated around 865. In 1147 Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg rededicated it together with the church in Scheiblingkirchen. By the 13th century it had become a branch of Bromberg parish before being raised to parish status in 1782. The interior was remodelled in 1789 and again in 1940–46 when the stonework was exposed. Gothic wall paintings were uncovered in 1977. Outside, the unrendered Romanesque ashlar walls form a triangle with the rectory and the former manor house. A small stream crosses the forecourt by a four-step stair and bridge to the main portal. Inside, the nave is divided into two bays; the eastern bay has a flat ceiling with a plain stucco oval, while the western bay retains a steep ribbed vault on half-columns. Traces of 14th- and 15th-century murals appear on the north wall and in the sanctuary. The high altar, transferred in 1785, carries a late-Gothic Madonna and 18th-century statues of Bernard and Francis.