Stiftskirche "Dom am Pyhrn" Spital am Pyhrn - "Mariä Himmelfahrt"

The passes and crossings in our mountains have always made history, including the Pyhrn Pass. Since the Bronze Age, an important route to the south developed here. The Romans followed the traces of the later Celtic trade route, their well-developed road connecting Ovilava with Virunum. It was the Alpine Slavs who gave the pass its own name: "pyro" = hill, mountain mound. In the 11th century, the area came into the possession of the Diocese of Bamberg. At the time of the Crusades, efforts were made to secure the now much-frequented pass crossing even in winter.The hospital, founded in 1190 by Bishop Otto II of Bamberg, was entrusted to a lay brotherhood. In 1418, the then Bishop of Bamberg, Albrecht von Wertheim, obtained from Pope Martin V the conversion of the hospital into a collegiate church of secular canons.Setbacks for the collegiate church in Spital were brought by the year 1502 - a fire destroyed almost all buildings - and the period after 1540.Under Dean Johann Jakob Gienger, the collegiate church was elevated to a provostry by Pope Paul V in 1605. In 1807, Emperor Franz I ordered the dissolution of the monastery. A great disaster for the monastery building and the church was the fire in the village on the night of October 25-26, 1841. A complete repair of the fire damage at that time only occurred with the exterior restoration from 1964-1967 and the interior restoration from 1977-1980.Significant artists of the Austrian Baroque created a total work of art full of astonishing harmony with the collegiate church in Spital.Domenico Antonio Carlone adorned the church interior with his calm coloring and magnificent stucco pilasters.A highlight of Baroque church painting in Upper Austria are the frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte in the presbytery. The closing grille made by Andreas Ferdinand Lindemayr is considered one of the most beautiful wrought iron works in Austria.Artistic sensibility and piety have allowed this house of God to emerge so magnificently.