Alte Pfarrkirche Heiliger Josef in Bodensdorf

Alt St. Josef is a small 17th-century church standing on rising ground in the northern part of Bodensdorf, a village beside Lake Ossiach in Carinthia. First mentioned between 1656 and 1667, it served as the parish church until the larger modern church was built in 1929. The building combines a three-bay nave with a lower polygonal choir and a single-storey northern sacristy. Inside, the nave is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes and transverse arches carried on pilasters. A round-arched triumphal arch leads to the Gothic choir, which has a ribbed cross vault and a three-sided apse. The western tower, added in 1738–39, has round-headed sound openings and a bulbous copper dome. The wooden west gallery rests on turned balusters, and the south porch, with its flat lintel, is the usual entrance. The high altar of the late 17th century carries a sculptured group of the Holy Family beneath a broken pediment. Flanking scrollwork and fruit garlands frame the central niche, while the upper section shows a relief of God the Father. The right-hand side altar, made about 1700, displays a modern Madonna flanked by a painting of Saint Florian and the coat of arms of an Ossiach abbot. The left side altar, also from around 1700, bears an image of Saint Barbara between statues of Saints Peter and Paul. Above the sacristy door hangs a 17th-century votive painting of Saint Joseph.