Photo: Friedle

Kirche Bschlabs

Pfafflar, Tyrol

Pilgrimage Church "Maria Schnee"The church was built as a chapel in 1639 and consecrated in 1648 by the auxiliary bishop of Brixen. Before the church was built, the dead had to be carried to Dormitz (near Nassereith), later to Imst, and buried there. In 1670, the first chaplain, Nikolaus Kranebitter, came to this valley, was a priest in Bschlabs for 40 years, and was buried beneath the altar. The records of the oldest baptismal register in the parish begin on October 31, 1670. The enlargement of the small church took place at the beginning of the 18th century. The tower was built between 1770 and 1780, with an octagonal upper story and an onion dome. In 1857, a sacristy was added. The cross above the sacristy entrance is by Balthasar Jais from Imst (1740).There are three bells in the church tower.The interior is a three-bay nave with a barrel vault with lunettes; the recessed, flattened chancel arch rests on wall pillars. Stucco profile strips are on the lunettes and windows. In the chancel vault, there is a fresco of Maria Immaculata by Josef Förg from Silz.The stained-glass windows of the church, semicircular at the top and bottom, from the Tiroler Glasmalereianstalt Innsbruck (1919), depict the Annunciation, Visitation, and Birth of Jesus.In glass display cases: left – clothed Mary with Child (18th century), right – Mary with a blue starry cloak.