Sankt Peter und Paul

The Catholic parish church of Saints Peter and Paul stands in Vorderweißenbach, a village in the rolling hills of Upper Austria’s Mühlviertel region. Built on a gentle slope, the church overlooks farmland and scattered hamlets that once belonged to the much larger parish of Gramastetten. The present building incorporates parts from several centuries, including a late-14th-century Gothic choir and a tower raised in 1500 and heightened in 1783. The church is worth visiting for the layers of history it carries. The original church was first recorded in 1292, and the parish became independent in 1613. Major rebuilding in 1680–83 gave the nave its Baroque shape, while a 1945–48 reconstruction by architect Hans Feichtlbauer reoriented the whole interior from east–west to north–south. The latest renovation in 2019 added modern lighting, loudspeakers and a projector, all carried out with help from local people. Inside, the Gothic choir now serves as the baptismal chapel and holds a late-19th-century winged altarpiece carved by Hans Greil. On the left wall hangs Gerhard Letzbor’s 1954 memorial painting of local saints, including a portrait of his late wife as Saint Notburga. The 1985 organ by Herbert Gollini has 22 stops and 1,382 pipes, and four bronze bells cast in 1977 ring out over the valley.