Holy cross church Bludenz

The Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche stands in the heart of Bludenz, a town in Vorarlberg. It is a Roman Catholic parish church under Denkmalschutz, built between 1932 and 1934 to replace the smaller Laurentiuskirche. The architect Albert Otto Linder designed the church as a central structure with an elliptical floor plan and a flat dome. Its walls are made of rough, unrendered limestone and quartzite from Lorüns. The tower, 51 metres tall with the cross, has nine half-circular sound openings on its wider sides and six on the narrower ones. The church is notable for its five bronze bells cast in 1950 by Grassmayr of Innsbruck, with a fifth added in 1981. Inside, Carl Rieder’s stained glass windows depict angels, the twelve apostles, and scenes of saints and religious figures. The central space is topped by an 18-metre-high dome with eighteen radiating ribs. There are chapels on either side of the choir, including the Theresienkapelle and a Taufkapelle. The church also houses a parish library in the basement. Visitors enter through a segment-arch west gallery and find the Taufkapelle to the left and the Beichtkapelle to the right. The raised choir has a flat dome and side arcades. The 1992 organ by Martin Pflüger of Feldkirch has 44 registers across three manuals and pedal. The sculptor Herbert Albrecht created the 1976 Volksaltar, while Emil Suthar carved the Stations of the Cross. The tower still holds a motor siren alongside the bells.