Wallfahrtskirche Maria Schnee

The Wallfahrtskirche Maria Schnee stands in the heart of Obermauern, a village in the Virgen municipality of East Tyrol. Perched on a gentle slope in the Virgen valley, it overlooks the surrounding farmland and distant peaks of the Hohe Tauern range. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows and has been a protected monument since the 17th century.

Its history reaches back to at least 1676, though the first pilgrims may have come earlier. The present building mixes early Gothic fragments with a late Gothic nave and choir built between 1431 and 1456 by the craftsmen of Gorizia under masters Martin or Konrad. A Baroque tower crowns the north side, its octagonal cap topped by a lantern dated 1650. The west porch, added in 1698, shelters a pointed arch doorway framed by three carved rock crystals.

Inside, the high altar of about 1660 frames a late Gothic shrine holding statues of Saints Peter and James, with painted angels and original green tendril decoration. The walls are covered with four large fresco cycles painted around 1480 by Simon von Taisten, illustrating the Passion, scenes from the life of Mary, and the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The organ case, built in 1713 by Johann B. Egedacher, still carries the parish priest’s coat of arms, while medieval bells hang above the nave.