Saint Barbara Church

The Catholic parish church of St Barbara stands alone on Schlossplatz, just south-east of Reichenau Castle in the market town of Reichenau an der Rax. Built between 1843 and 1846 as a miners’ church, it replaced an earlier structure and was designed by Wenzel Bartak, revised by Peter Nobile and executed by Michael Zeura. The church belongs to the deanery of Gloggnitz and is protected as a listed monument. Its late-classical block form has a square tower on the west front, marked by a mining emblem and topped by an octagonal clock stage and domed roof. The exterior shows sharp geometric lines, recessed rectangular chancel, shallow facade fluting, lunettes and a continuous triglyph frieze beneath a cornice. Inside, a plain nave with a central dome and transverse barrel vault leads to a plastered choir. The high altar, rebuilt after Nobile’s design, carries a round-arched altarpiece showing St Barbara with the Baron Kübeck family and the actor Ludwig Löwe as donor, painted by Friedrich Schilcher. A 1911 altar table by Hubert Gangl and Hanzl with sculptor Linsberger stands before it. The church also holds a Madonna from 1420–30, a 17th-century canvas of Christ mocked, and a copy of the Mariahilf image from 1644. The organ by Johann M. Kauffmann dates from 1939, and three bells were cast by Pfundner in 1956.