Photo: Stephanie Bor

Pfarrkirche St. Ägid zu Altaussee

Altaussee, Styria

Traditions, which were only recorded in the 18th century, suggest that the church in Altaussee (dialectally "Altenaussee") was built towards the end of the 12th century. It was not explicitly attested until about a hundred years later in the complete urbarium of Albrecht I. Another tradition suggests that it is older than the Pauluskirche in Bad Aussee and a former parish church. In fact, it had parochial rights long before the establishment of its own pastoral care center: the Aussee parish regulations of 1483 presuppose the right of burial, and reports from the 17th and 18th centuries mention a baptismal certificate and the administration of the Easter sacraments. The Gothic sacrament house testifies to the preservation of the Eucharist. The documentary mentions begin in 1433, and the year 1434 is considered a building inscription on the west side next to the current main portal. The Aegidius patronage also points to its origin in the 12th century, from which most Aegidius churches in the country originate and in which the documents on salt extraction begin with the donation of two salt pans to the Cistercian monastery Rein by Margrave Ottokar in 1147. The old parochial rights applied to a precisely defined district; services were provided by the Aussee parish, attested since 1301. It was not until Empress Maria Theresia founded a separate vicariate in 1770, which in some respects remained dependent on the mother parish. This only slowly changed when the vicariate was elevated to an independent parish in 1892.