Saints Peter and Paul Church, Protected church monument in Ried im Innkreis, Austria.
Saints Peter and Paul Church is a Baroque single-nave building with five bays and a barrel vault, flanked by five deep chapels per side. The low two-bay choir has a rounded apse and stepped buttresses. The west tower, 73 metres high, has a Gothic west portal and a net-ribbed vaulted hall. The vaults carry band and lattice stucco from around 1725.
A parish is assumed by the mid-14th century, when Ried was founded as a market in 1364. The core of the Gothic church of the 15th century survives; the nave was demolished in 1720 and rebuilt in Baroque form by master builder Matthias Bereiter, who also remodelled the choir in 1721. The tower was raised in 1731/32 by Johann Ceregetti, its two upper storeys altered in 1868, and its high helm added in 1930, bringing it to 73 metres.
The side chapels of the nave were endowed by different guilds and brotherhoods, which is why they carry names such as Schuhmacherkapelle (shoemakers), Bräuerkapelle (brewers), Müllerkapelle (millers), Tuchmacherkapelle (clothmakers), Fleischhauerkapelle (butchers), Schneiderkapelle (tailors), Weberkapelle (weavers) and Bäckerkapelle (bakers). The Bräuerkapelle holds a St Florian altar by Thomas Schwanthaler (1669) whose central group shows a view of Ried. In the Elendkapelle, now used as a confessional chapel, stand life-size figures on a later-added Mount of Olives, probably a late work by Thomas Schwanthaler.
The church stands at Kirchenplatz in the centre of Ried im Innkreis, a short walk from the town square. The west tower keeps a Gothic pointed-arch portal and a rib-vaulted entrance hall, so the main approach is through the tower. The Elendkapelle beside the tower now serves as a confessional chapel.
The high altar (1663–1665) is carpentry by Peter Widmann with figures by Thomas Schwanthaler; the tabernacle (1770) is by Johann Peter Schwanthaler the Elder. In the Bräuerkapelle, the Florian altar by Thomas Schwanthaler (1669) shows a view of Ried in its central group.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,417 contributors worldwide.