Filialkirche hl. Athanasius, Kühweg, Hermagor

The Filialkirche Kühweg stands in the village of Kühweg, part of Hermagor in Carinthia. It belongs to the parish of Mitschig and is dedicated to Saint Athanasius. The first record of a church here dates from 1485, when it was placed under the patronage of Saint Nonnosus. The present building is late-Gothic with later Baroque changes. A wooden bell tower rises above the nave, topped by a pointed spire and housing a bell from the late 13th century. Inside, the flat ceiling of the nave carries a ceiling painting from 1774 showing Saint Athanasius being taken into heaven, with figures below pleading for intercession and the castle of Malenthein in the background. A pointed, chamfered chancel arch leads to the choir, which has a net-ribbed vault on corbels. The same painter who decorated the nave also painted the Evangelists’ symbols on the choir walls. Light enters through composite windows. The high altar, dating from the late 17th century, holds a restored statue of Saint Athanasius. The side altar, from the early 18th century, displays a copy of Lucas Cranach’s Mariahilf image. The plain pulpit, made for a rural congregation, also belongs to the early 18th century.