Heinrichskirche

The choir (= the altar area, mostly located in the east) was built after 1400. In 1494, a small Carmelite monastery was established. In 1897, the dilapidated nave was demolished and the current west facade was redesigned. Due to the raising of the Danube bank, the church is now below street level.Next to the church was a cemetery where the drowned, washed-up, and poor were buried. It often happened that sailors drowned in the Danube. For a long time, rafters had to be non-swimmers so as not to abandon their goods in case of danger. The pillory, which today stands again in the market square, stood on this former cemetery from 1905-1936.In 1694, a fisherman found a washed-up statue of Mary at the Enns estuary. A pilgrimage site developed around this "Maria Trost", including processions from Passau. The Heinrichskirche was one of the richest churches in Machland due to the income from pilgrims' donations. The statue of Mary was moved to the parish church of St. Nikola in 1892. The statue, heavily reworked during its relocation, stands on the north wall there today.In the 16th century, the Heinrichskirche was the church of the Protestants of Mauthausen. In 1732, Emperor KARL VI (1685/1711-40), father of Maria Theresia (1717/1740-1780), attended a mass in the Heinrichskirche. In 1786, the church was closed under Emperor JOSEF II (1741/1764-1790), but reopened as early as 1787 after protests from the people of Mauthausen. The Gothic former choir of the Heinrichskirche, which today forms the chapel, is single-bay with a 5/8-closure. The polygon (multi-sided due to 5/8 closure) is covered by a hipped gable roof. The pointed-arch shallow portal vestibule is enclosed by a Baroque-style wrought-iron gate.