Photo: Stadtgemeinde Feldbach

Stadtpfarrkirche zum Heiligen Leonhard

Feldbach, Styria

The parish church in its current form was built between 1898 and 1900. It is partially located on the site where the old church stood. Therefore, only two-thirds of the nave built in the 12th century (today the Heldengedächtniskirche) and the foundations of the tower remain from the old church. Since the old church had become too small and consisted of very diverse spatial parts (it had been enlarged repeatedly over time), the construction of a larger church, adapted to the population size, began at the end of the last century. Part of the Tabor buildings were also demolished to make space for the new church. The construction of the new church, based on the plans of architect Pascher, began on June 17, 1898. In contrast to the "fragmented" interior of the old church, the new church was planned as a spacious, strictly uniform room with clear visibility. It is single-nave and has a narrower, straight-ended chancel. The dimensions of the interior are considerable. The full length is 48.6 meters, the width including the chapels extends to 20.4 meters, and the height is 20.2 meters. The tower was adapted to the new building in both form and height (raised to 71 meters). Due to the poor soil, the entire ground had to be founded with one-meter-thick concrete. Construction progressed quickly, and on October 15, 1900, the parish church of St. Leonhard was consecrated by Prince-Bishop Dr. Leopold Schuster. Subsequently, the new church was gradually furnished. In 1907, the high altar was erected; the old altar went to Unterlamm. The paintings inside the church were completed in 1947. The exterior facade of the Feldbach parish church was renovated in 1980. For its 100th anniversary, the parish church was renovated internally in 2000. In 2020, the church was renovated externally and thus regained its original color. Saint Leonhard - our patron saint - was a hermit who probably founded the monastery of Noblae (Central France) in the 6th century. Leonhard particularly advocated for more justice in the penal system and brought about the release of innocent prisoners (hence the broken chains). Thanks to his excellent knowledge of nature, he was often able to help farmers and their livestock (therefore depicted with animals). Leonhard probably died in 559 and was considered a miracle worker during his lifetime. Since the exterior renovation in 2020, a statue of St. Leonhard has again adorned the gable niche high above the main entrance on the east side. The niche had probably been empty since 1943, when a statue located there disappeared. The design for the new statue comes from the Feldbach artist Roswitha Dautermann. It is characterized by a contemporary, independent formal language. The implementation was carried out together with the stonemason Johann Paar. The limestone for the statue comes from St. Margarethen in Burgenland. The raw block weighed 2.2 tons; the finished figure weighs around 500 kilograms.