Ubald of Gubbio Church (Schlierbach, Austria)

The Filialkirche Heiliger Ubald stands in the hamlet of Sautern, part of the municipality of Schlierbach in Upper Austria. It is a small Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Ubald of Gubbio. The first written record of a chapel on this spot dates from 1443, though the present building was constructed in 1959 after a fire destroyed its predecessor. The church is worth visiting for its long history and surviving treasures. A 1726 fresco by Johann Karl von Reslfeld once filled the vault but was mostly lost in the 1924 fire; a fragment now hangs behind the new altar. The old high altar and organ survived the blaze and were later reinstalled. The parish also preserved a late-medieval statue of the Virgin and a late-17th-century figure of Saint Ubald. Inside the modest single-nave church, visitors see the relocated fresco fragment and the old Marienstatue. A 70 kg Florianiglocke, cast in 1996, rings from the small bell tower. The plain rectangular choir and straight-roofed nave keep the interior calm and focused on the altar. Outside, the quiet lanes of Sautern lead back to Schlierbach’s main square.