Kirche Oberbuch

The church at Oberbuch stands in the Gmünd municipality of Carinthia. First recorded in 1455, it is a small former Catholic chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene. After secularisation it was restored in 1987 and rededicated for Protestant services from 1988 onward. Its architecture mixes styles: a probable Romanesque nave with late-Gothic and Baroque touches. A wooden bell tower was added in 1996. Inside, the three-sided choir is walled off and entered by a door, the crossing vaulted, and the nave flat-ceilinged. Wall paintings from about 1470–80 cover the west and south walls with scenes of the Virgin and Child, saints, and a nine-part Passion cycle from the early 1300s. Visitors find a quiet country church surrounded by farmland. The west front shows Mary Magdalene flanked by angels above the main entrance, where two angels hold Veronica’s veil. The south wall bears a painted Christophorus and the Passion scenes. Inside, the modest space preserves medieval frescoes and simple furnishings used for occasional Protestant services.