Sankt Marien, Parish church in Enns, Austria
Sankt Marien, also called Maria Schnee, is a Gothic parish church in the south of Enns's inner town, grouped with the attached Wallseer-Kapelle, a cloister and the Franciscan monastery. Its nave was vaulted in the second half of the 15th century into a two-aisled, four-bay hall church on octagonal pillars, while the tall three-bay choir with a five-eighth close dates from 1300.
Built from about 1270 as the monastery church of the Minorites in Enns, it became the parish church in 1553 when Bishop Wolfgang von Salm of Passau and King Ferdinand I transferred parish rights from the basilica of Enns-Lorch to the vacant Minorite church. Hans von Matz carried out the necessary interior alterations. In 1565 Emperor Maximilian II permitted the old Scheiblingkirche to be demolished for material for the Enns town tower, which then housed the bells as the town's campanile. The parish was split into Enns-St. Marien and Enns-St. Laurenz on 31 December 1967.
The church is dedicated to Maria Schnee (Our Lady of the Snows), a title tied to the Roman basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Since 1967 it has been the seat of its own parish, Enns-St. Marien, split from the older parish territory on 31 December of that year. The adjoining Wallseer-Kapelle, cloister and Franciscan monastery form one ensemble with the church.
The church stands in the southern part of Enns's inner town, grouped with the Wallseer Chapel, the cloister and the Franciscan monastery. The Enns Kampanile, the former town tower that received the bells after 1565, is nearby and serves as a landmark for finding the ensemble on foot.
The bell tower beside the church is not original: in 1565 Emperor Maximilian II allowed the old Scheiblingkirche to be demolished and its stone reused for the Enns town tower, which then received the bells and became the town's campanile.
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