Pfarrkirche St. Martin (Niederösterreich)

The parish church of St Martin in the Waldviertel stands in the village of St Martin in the market town of St Martin in Lower Austria. It belongs to the Gmünd deanery in the diocese of St Pölten and is protected as a listed building. A vicariate was first recorded here in 1340. The single-nave church, originally Romanesque with an eastern tower, was remodelled in the Baroque style and extended westwards in the second quarter of the 18th century. Further work took place in 1889 and again in 1948. The church sits north of the main square along the through road, enclosed by a cemetery. The square choir tower, essentially Romanesque, has both blocked and open paired round-arched windows, a Gothic single-light tracery window on the east side, a Baroque flat-arched window on the south side, and a bulbous helmet added in 1858. The nave is plain, lit by Baroque flat-arched windows, and the façade features a curved gable with a niche holding a Baroque statue. Inside, the four-bay nave is covered by a low Baroque barrel vault on double ribs and paired pilasters, while the organ loft curves above the entrance. The high altar, dating from the mid-18th century, displays the painting of St Martin’s cloak by Mich. Hertz and houses a 1541 bell and an 1840 organ by Franz Jüstel.