Kath. Pfarrkirche in Plangeross

The late-18th-century parish church of Mariahilf stands in the scattered hamlet of Plangeross, high in the Pitztal valley. It is surrounded on three sides by a quiet cemetery, its modest late-baroque walls rising gently above the mountain meadows. The building replaced an earlier chapel in 1765 and was consecrated thirteen years later, when the congregation finally gained its own priest. The church’s interior is a study in restrained late-baroque craftsmanship. Square nave, barrel-vaulted ceiling on sturdy piers, and a narrow chancel finished in a five-sided apse create a calm, orderly space. The 1774 high altar, carved in late rococo style, carries a Mariahilf image modelled on the famous Innsbruck original, flanked by statues of Saint Joseph and Saint James. Above, the ceiling paintings by Wolfram Köberl from 1976 unfold a single theme: the redemptive work of Christ. Visitors step from the cemetery into a cool, whitewashed interior lit by small windows. The high altar dominates the view, its gilded details catching the light. To the right, a baroque Madonna and Child stands on the chancel arch, a private gift long ago. Along the walls, Köberl’s 1976 Stations of the Cross lead the eye in measured sequence. Outside, the churchyard’s simple crosses and the surrounding alpine slopes frame the modest yet elegant building.