St. Georg

St. Georg is a Lutheran church in Oberampfrach, Niederösterreich. It stands behind a high enclosing wall that suggests an earlier fortified church. The oldest parts of the building date from the 11th century, when a small Romanesque chapel stood on the site. A church with a bell tower is recorded from 1429, and the large Christ bell still bears that date. The tower basement and sacristy are even older, while the Gothic winged altar was added at the end of the 15th century.

The church survived the Thirty Years’ War largely unharmed. In 1626 the nave was raised by about 1.2 metres and new windows, floor, gallery and pulpit were installed. Between 1697 and 1699 the interior was repainted in fourteen colours and the surviving apostle panels were placed on the gallery rail. A new organ followed in 1701. Further work in 1707–11 widened the nave, added Baroque windows and raised the tower to 40 metres. The Gothic altar was moved aside in 1725 when a Baroque altarpiece by Georg Karl Schwab was installed.

Inside, the neogothic furnishings added in 1893 remain. Franz Herterich carved the present pulpit and wooden font in 1865. The west end was extended by nine metres in 1893 to seat 529 people. The 1950s renovation removed colourful neogothic murals, leaving the church plain. Recent repairs included rebuilding the west gable after dry-rot damage in 2009–10.