Unterdürnbach Pfarrkirche

The parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene stands on the highest point of Unterdürnbach, a village in Lower Austria. Built as a Roman Catholic church facing east with a west tower, it occupies the centre of a walled cemetery. The building has been under official protection since the 19th century.

Its history begins in 1293 when Ritter Wolfhard von Dürnbach obtained permission to erect a chapel. After fires and disputes the parish became independent in 1783 and was placed under Stift Lilienfeld, which still appoints the priest. The present church mixes Gothic elements with 18th-century Baroque additions, including a new tower finished in 1752 by the stonemason Anton Scheidtler.

Inside, the nave has a barrel vault on Tuscan columns leading to a raised choir with cross-ribbed ceiling. The high altar of about 1740 shows the patron saint in a painting restored in 2010. Side altars, a 17th-century pulpit and a sandstone font stand beside Baroque statues and a 19th-century organ case. Outside, the cemetery preserves 17th-century gravestones of Zogelsdorf sandstone, some now in Eggenburg museum.