Pfarrkirche, Church building in Birnbaum, Germany

St. Stephan in Birnbaum is a white-plastered church with a steep slate roof and a four-storey tower topped by an octagonal slate spire. The nave has three bays under a barrel vault with lunettes, and the choir closes in five-eighths with a ribbed net vault. High buttresses surround the exterior, and the north portal is dated 1658.

The oldest parts of St. Stephan date from the 15th century. In 1492 Birnbaum was separated from the parish of Steinwiesen together with Neufang, and after years of disputes between the villages Birnbaum became an independent parish in 1623. The nave vaults were probably destroyed in the Thirty Years' War; the church was restored from 1657 to 1660 and rededicated on 29 July 1660. The sacristy was added in the 19th century, and a full renovation ran from 2009 to 2011.

The parish became independent in 1623 after disputes with Neufang, and the octagonal sandstone font dates from that same year. The high altar, dated 1680, holds a figure of St. Stephen between the diocesan patrons Henry and Kunigunde, carved in the first half of the 18th century. The pulpit shows the four Evangelists, with St. Michael on its canopy.

The church stands in the village centre beside the cemetery, so the churchyard is reached on foot from the surrounding lanes. The round-arched north portal is dated 1658 in its keystone, and the west portal is framed by a profiled roll moulding. The building is a heritage monument of Bavaria; access to the interior follows parish use.

The church's oldest surviving feature is its 1623 octagonal sandstone baptismal font, predating the 1657–1660 restoration. Its keel-shaped shaft and 19th-century marbled wooden lid are easy to overlook near the entrance. The font was carved the same year Birnbaum became an independent parish.