Pilgrimage Church Maria Straßengel, Gothic pilgrimage church in Gratwein-Straßengel, Austria.

Pilgrimage Church Maria Straßengel is a high Gothic church built from 1346 to 1355 on a hill above Judendorf-Straßengel. Its pale stone walls, steep red-tiled roof and buttresses frame tall pointed windows, while a small gabled porch with a pointed arch and a large circular tracery window marks the entrance. A slender openwork spire with a cross rises behind the main body, beside a shorter clock tower with a pyramidal roof.

A chapel on the Straßengel hill is documented in 1208, and Stift Rein gives 1158 as the founding year of the pilgrimage site. Abbot Hertwig von Emerberg laid the foundation stone of the present High Gothic church on 8 December 1346; it was built until 1355. A defensive wall with three gates was added in the mid-15th century against Turkish raids, and in 1785 the church became a local chaplaincy.

The church is dedicated to Mariä Namen and belongs to the Seelsorgeraum Rein in the Diocese of Graz-Seckau. Its two legendary images of grace are the Maria im Ährenkleid, painted around 1420–1430 by a Styrian master and replaced by a copy by Gottfried Johannes Höfler in 1978 after the original was stolen in 1976, and the Wurzelkreuz, said to have been found in a tree after 1255 and now kept in a reliquary outside the church interior.

The location is clearly visible from above and offers views over the surroundings, making it easy to find. Visitors should expect hilly paths and sturdy footwear is practical.

The Wurzelkreuz is a tree root said to have been found in 1255 and to have grown into the shape of a crucifix. It was stolen in 1976 but recovered shortly afterwards, and it is now kept in a reliquary outside the church interior rather than shown during services.