Photo: Marktgemeinde Vordernberg · TV Erzberg-Leoben

Laurentiuskirche

Vordernberg, Styria

The increasing demand for iron required the relocation of the blast furnaces down the valley, and the Laurentiuskirche was replaced by the parish church "Mariä Himmelfahrt" in 1830, making it only a filial church today. The fortified church was built in 1388. The late Gothic church, built in 1388, was renovated in 2004 and is located approximately one kilometer above the village in the direction of Präbichl. It was originally the parish church of Vordernberg. As the village and its water wheels moved down the valley over time, because more water was available there for the blast furnaces, it is now only a filial church. On May 7, 1882, the church and a neighboring house burned down. The church tower received a spire instead of the previous onion dome during reconstruction. Four new bells were already installed and consecrated on August 11, 1883. Large parts of the ring wall and a shell tower are still preserved from the small church castle. The complex once had a strong gate tower and a significantly higher ring wall with a battlement and two rows of loopholes.