Pfarrkirche Donawitz

The Pfarrkirche Donawitz stands in the Leoben district of Donawitz, in the city of Leoben in the Austrian province of Styria. It is a Roman Catholic parish church dedicated to Saint Joseph of Nazareth. The church, along with the sexton’s house and the parish house, is protected as a listed monument. The building was constructed between 1949 and 1954 under the direction of architects Karl Lebwohl and Kurt Weber-Mzell. Its interior features six steel parabolic arches that act as ribs and wall supports, giving the space a vaulted feel. The choir is raised twelve steps above the nave, and beneath it lies an under-church that was renovated in 1972 and 1973. On the ceiling panels of the nave, symbolic depictions of the seven sacraments were painted by Franz Rogler. Inside, the church holds a people’s altar designed by Josef Hinger in 1981. The Stations of the Cross were created by Ernst von Dombrowski, and the organ was built by Dreher and Reinisch in 1958. The western tower rises prominently, resembling a westwork. The church’s design reflects mid-20th-century modernism while maintaining traditional religious symbolism.