Filialkirche Neustift an der Lafnitz

The modern Catholic filial church stands in the centre of Neustift an der Lafnitz, a village in Burgenland beside the Lafnitz river. It occupies the north-west corner where the main street meets the lane to the old chapel. Across the road is the village hall, marking the church’s place in daily life. The building replaced a small 19th-century chapel that had grown too small for the growing community. In 2010 a Graz firm led by architect Jacqueline Walcher designed the new church, completed in 2013 at a cost of 400 000 euros. Bishop Ägidius Zsifkovics consecrated it on 16 June 2013, and the old chapel was then removed. The exterior shows a low, sloping roof over a roughly rectangular plan, with a broad glazed entrance on the south side. A long pergola of slim pillars shelters the paved approach. East of this stands a slender concrete bell tower with a single bell and a triangular gable. Inside, plain white walls enclose a rectangular nave and a slightly raised sanctuary under an open timber ceiling. A tall yellow-and-white stained-glass cross lights the altar, while the old altar painting and a Madonna statue from the former chapel now hang on the opposite wall.