Saint Nicholas Church

The Catholic parish church of St Nicholas and its churchyard stand in the centre of Ratten, a village in the rolling hills of the Austrian province of Styria. The present building replaces an earlier church first recorded in 1418; the tower from 1709 survives from the early 18th-century rebuilding designed by Remigius Horner. A thorough restoration between 1969 and 1972 returned the church and its surroundings to their former condition. Inside, the church offers a two-bay nave covered by a barrel vault and a three-conch eastern arrangement, while the organ loft at the west end has three openings. The high altar and two side altars date from the rebuilding period; the Barbara altar bears a painting by G. A. Warhueber dated 1714. Figures of the Twelve Apostels line the walls, and the organ itself was installed by Matthias Krainz in 1825. The churchyard is enclosed by a portal topped with a statue of St Nicholas from the early 1700s. Nearby stands the late 17th-century Rosenkranz chapel, its altar adorned with carved strapwork and an image of the same saint. Two grave slabs in the churchyard bear the date 1684, and an epitaph of 1797 is fixed to the tower. The whole ensemble forms a quiet record of local faith and craftsmanship.