Debanter Pfarrkirche

The Debanter Pfarrkirche stands in the village of Debant, part of Nußdorf-Debant in East Tyrol. It is a modern Roman Catholic parish church built between 1968 and 1977 to serve a growing community after the Second World War. The church was designed by Innsbruck architect Ulrich Feßler and its construction cost seven million schillings. The Diocese of Innsbruck raised it to parish status in 2000 and it is now protected as a listed building. The church’s unusual shape follows a regular hexagon based on an equilateral triangle. Its 26-metre freestanding tower of exposed concrete rises above a hexagonal forecourt. Inside, the worship space is also triangular, with the altar placed centrally so the congregation can gather on three sides. Natural light filters through concrete beams onto the whitewashed walls. The interior blends artworks from different centuries, including late-Gothic reliefs by Wilhelm and Viktor Senoner behind the altar and baroque statues and paintings elsewhere. Visitors enter through a corner porch into a bright, uncluttered interior. The altar area is dominated by three Senoner reliefs depicting the Resurrection, Pentecost and the Assumption. To the left hang a baroque cross and reliefs of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The small chapel on the right contains a baroque figure of the Man of Sorrows. The church uses a digital organ because the large space and warm-air heating would have made a pipe organ impractical. Outside, the paved forecourt and tower form a quiet focus for the village.