Heilandskirche Dornbirn

The Heilandskirche stands in Dornbirn’s central Markt district in Vorarlberg. It is a plain, octagonal church with a tent-like roof and lantern, built in 1930–31 to plans by Otto Bartning. The community traces its origins to a preaching station founded in 1907, becoming an independent parish in 1951. Architect Bartning’s design was reused from a matching mountain church in what is now the Czech Republic. Four semicircular projections flank the main space: the porch, two staircases and the chancel used as a sacristy. The windows are by Glasmalerei Innsbruck, and the carved oak crucifix is by Hans Wissel.

The church matters because it records a rare moment of modern church design in Vorarlberg. Bregenz pastor Helmuth Pommer drove the project forward, and the building cost about 85 000 schillings—roughly €299 000 today. Inside, the 1931 Mayer organ was replaced in 2004 by a two-manual Rieger instrument with ten stops. A full renovation between 2003 and 2004 removed fixed pews in favour of free seating, and in 2018 the original light fittings were faithfully reproduced in LED form. The parish itself is mixed in confession, uniting both Reformed and Lutheran members across Vorarlberg.

Visitors enter beneath the lantern-lit tent roof and find an uncluttered octagon of white walls and simple furnishings. The stained-glass windows cast coloured light over the central space, while the Wissel crucifix hangs above the chancel. The free-standing chairs allow the floor to be rearranged for concerts or lectures. Outside, the church sits among the town’s commercial buildings, its modest silhouette contrasting with the surrounding 20th-century streets.