Katholische Pfarrkirche, Riedau

The parish church of Riedau stands on the market square in the heart of the village of Riedau in Upper Austria. A Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint George, it belongs to the Kallham deanery within the Diocese of Linz and is protected as a listed monument. The church’s history begins in 1316 when a church was first recorded. Its architecture blends Gothic and later styles: the choir has a five-sided end and ribbed vaulting, while the nave, originally four bays, was altered at the close of the 16th century and extended around 1635 with two chapels that give a transept-like effect. The west tower, completed in 1611, carries a new pointed spire and a Gothic door. Inside, the furnishings are neo-Gothic, including a high-altar statue of Saint George carved by Josef Rint between 1861 and 1863. Baroque side-altar figures from the early 18th century stand beside them. Outside, a 1955 war memorial by Hans Foschum decorates the west side of the tower, and a walk-in metal cube nearby honours the parish priest and dialect poet Anton Reidinger, who wrote the well-known Christmas carol. Below the church lies a crypt once used for burials.