Stadtpfarrkirche

The Stadtpfarrkirche Wels stands in the heart of Wels, a town in Upper Austria. It is the city’s oldest church and one of the oldest in the region, dedicated to St John the Evangelist. The church has been protected as a monument since the 19th century. Its history begins in 888, when it was first recorded as a small chapel. Over the centuries it grew from a Romanesque basilica into a Gothic three-aisled building. Traces of both styles remain today, especially in the crossing vault and the lower parts of the west tower. The church’s most striking feature is its west tower, raised in the early 18th century and crowned with a bulbous dome. In 1731 and 1732 the tower and west portal were remodelled under Mayor Johann Paumgartner by architect Johann Michael Prunner. Three stone statues of Saints Sebastian, Michael and Roch were added, probably carved by Michael Herstorfer of Linz. The tower also received a new clock and five bells from the Linzer bell-founder Silvius Creuz. Inside, the nave is carried on six partly Romanesque pillars that rise to pointed Gothic arches. The vaults are simple Gothic ribbed ceilings, their ribs meeting at plain keystones. Visitors enter through the richly decorated Baroque west portal and step into a four-bay nave lit by tall half-blind windows with tracery. The high altar and pulpit are neo-Gothic works by Michael Stolz from 1856. In the tower hall lie marble sarcophagi of the Polheimer noble family, moved here in 1785 after their monastery was dissolved. The Taufkapelle at the west end of the north aisle contains a modern Lourdes grotto and a mosaic by Hans Babuder showing Christ triumphant on the cross. The octagonal marble font bears a dove and a verse from the Gospel of John. Outside, weathered tombstones from old Wels cemeteries are built into the church walls.