Pfarrkirche Schwechat, Baroque church in Schwechat, Austria.
Pfarrkirche Schwechat is a late-baroque church set back from Schwechat's Hauptplatz, forming an Ehrenhof ensemble with the two-storey former parish house and school. Its narrow west facade is fronted by a three-zone bell tower with pilasters, segmental windows, clock gables and an onion dome; niches hold statues of St Florian and an unidentified soldier saint, with King David and Moses on the gable volutes.
The bell tower was completed in late baroque style during 1757, while the main church building was finished and consecrated in 1765. This two-phase construction reflects the gradual development of the site.
The high altar, set into the curve of the apse, was built by carpenter Josef Hauser with carvings by Johann Georg Hasler; its altarpiece of Saint James preaching was painted by Martin Johann Schmidt in 1764. The same year Schmidt supplied the two side altarpieces, Christ on the Cross and the Immaculate Conception, with oval companion paintings above them.
The church stands on Schwechat's Hauptplatz, set back from the street behind a courtyard formed with the parish house and former school; the entrance is through the west facade beneath the tower. The site is a protected monument, so visitors keep to the marked areas and avoid touching the furnishings.
The church ceiling sustained severe bomb damage during World War II, resulting in the loss of valuable frescoes by Franz Anton Maulbertsch. These losses remain visible today as traces of the wartime destruction the building endured.
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