Christuskirche Althofen

The Christuskirche stands in Althofen, a small town in the Austrian province of Kärnten. It is the main church of the local Protestant parish, which covers a vast area of nearly 1,000 square kilometres. The parish includes parts of the Görtschitztal, Krappfeld, Gurktal and Metnitztal valleys, stretching from Friesach to Hüttenberg. Though the region has around 28,000 residents, fewer than 3% belong to the Protestant church, far below Kärnten’s average. This reflects the harsh suppression of Protestantism during the Counter-Reformation in the late 16th century, when many were forced to leave. Only after Emperor Joseph II’s Tolerance Patent in 1781 and later the Protestant Patent of 1861 could worship be practised freely again. The church was built in 1963 as a simple rectangular hall with a pitched roof and pointed sash windows. In 1993 a post-modern tower was added, designed to resemble a medieval defensive tower. The tower is white with a dark brown top, small corner turrets and a pointed spire. Above the main entrance is a narrow stained-glass window and a large Pax Christi symbol in the form of the Chi-Rho monogram. The same year saw the completion of the parish centre, linking the 1954 parish hall with the new Paulussaal community room. Inside, the church offers a quiet, unadorned space for worship and reflection. The white walls and natural light from the tall windows create a calm atmosphere. The post-modern tower stands out against the surrounding buildings on the Lorberkogel hill, near the town’s main square. Nearby, the Martin-Luther-Kirche in Friesach and the Waldkapelle in Weitensfeld serve as additional places of worship for the parish. The church remains a centre for a small but active Protestant community in a largely Catholic region.