Pfarrkirche Altenmarkt

The village of Altenmarkt bei Fürstenfeld was gifted to the Knights Hospitaller in 1234. The parish church, dedicated to St. Donatus (formerly Maria in der Au), is still incorporated into the Order of Malta today. The Romanesque building from the 13th century was a hall with a west tower. The rising masonry of the later Baroque nave and the foundations of the west tower, rebuilt in the 15th century, still belong to the Romanesque construction period, with a Romanesque funnel window visibly preserved on the west side. Around 1300, the Knights Hospitaller erected an early Gothic choir. The single-bay structure with a 5/8-closure features cross-rib vaults and sculpted keystones, which show the divine blessing hand, the Lamb of God, and the head of Christ from east to west. The wall paintings in the choir of the church in Altenmarkt were only uncovered in 1985–86. The overall pictorial decoration, which also includes the vault zone with red stars on a blue background, can be dated to the beginning of the 14th century for stylistic reasons. Later changes in the choir caused several missing areas in the painting. On the north wall, between ornamental strips, the Annunciation to Mary, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, the Nativity, and the Adoration of the Magi are depicted. Of the depictions of saints on the south wall, only St. Catherine of Alexandria with the wheel and St. Barbara with the chalice are still identifiable. The remaining figures on the south wall, which were grouped around a central enthroned figure, are only preserved in highly fragmented form due to the installation of a Baroque oratory. Stylistically, the paintings are partly still in the Romanesque tradition, as shown, for example, by the composition of the Nativity and reproductions of the late zigzag style in the drapery of the garments. On the other hand, the early Gothic ideal of figures is already noticeable, especially in the figures on the south wall, most clearly represented by St. Catherine.