Karner Friedersbach

The Romanesque parish church of Friedersbach stands on a small hill called the Kirchenberg, south of the village in Zwettl, Lower Austria. The church, dedicated to Saint Lawrence, is surrounded by a former defensive wall of roughly cut stone that also encloses a round romanesque charnel house and the old cemetery. The site is protected by law as a historic monument. The church began as a fortified place in the mid-12th century under the Rauheneck family and became a parish in 1159. Its boundaries have barely changed since then, and it once ranked among the most important parishes in the Waldviertel. The tower was built in the early 13th century, the north aisle around 1320–30, and the choir in 1408 after Hussite raids. Later additions include a south aisle in the 15th century and a northern porch in 1793. Inside, the nave has a net-ribbed vault and an early-13th-century west gallery. The north aisle shows four ribbed bays with hollowed ribs, while the south aisle has star-shaped vaulting added in the late 15th century. The main choir, raised slightly, has a five-sided end and a painted Resurrection scene from the late 16th century. Four medieval stained-glass windows survive in the choir, depicting scenes from the life of Christ and local legends. The furnishings include a neogothic high altar of 1928, two 18th-century side altars, and notable late-gothic and baroque crucifixes.