Parish Church of St. Gallus in Gallneukirche

The parish church of St Gallus stands on a gentle rise north-west of Gallneukirchen’s market square. Built in the Gothic style, it is a three-aisled basilica with five bays and a slightly tilted chancel. The church replaced an earlier wooden building from around the year 900 and a Romanesque stone church whose foundations were uncovered in 2006. The church has witnessed many changes since its first mention in 1180. After a fire in 1773 it gained a new high altar and pulpit, and in 1909 a major restoration returned the interior to its 14th-century appearance. The artist Alois Dorn created the bronze Gallus Gate and a mosaic of the patron saint in 1981. The tower contains a single surviving 18th-century bell and a 1600 sundial beneath its Baroque onion dome. Inside, the five-bay west gallery dominates the space and the side altars show scenes of Christ’s baptism and a baroque Madonna. The 1770 high altar features a painting of St Gallus by Johann Georg Tompke, flanked by figures of St Giles and St Elizabeth. The two-bay choir has a ribbed vault, and beside it lie the sacristy and the oil-berg chapel. Outside, the south portal has a pointed arch and the west front displays the bronze Gallus Gate.