Pfarrkirche Karner Hartberg

Two jewels of the Eastern Styrian town of Hartberg!

The Hartberg Parish Church is dedicated to Saint Martin and was first mentioned in 1157. Its foundations are even older: they stand on the remains of a Roman structure from around 200 AD. The wall remnants, especially the uncovering of the layout of a Roman villa with hypocaust heating under the parish church in 1973, indicate an imperial settlement in the area. Tombstones on the church wall also suggest Roman settlement. The church tower was originally a Romanesque defense tower, to which the church was later added. Its late Baroque tower helmet is considered one of the most beautiful in the region.

Different styles harmoniously blend together in the parish church: Roman elements in the foundations, Romanesque features in the tower, Gothic influences with the beautiful star-ribbed vault under the roof, and Baroque elements in the interior. When a devastating fire broke out in Hartberg in 1715, destroying many houses and heavily damaging the church, a reconstruction was undertaken in 1751. During this reconstruction, the Romanesque aisles were demolished and rebuilt, and the Romanesque defense tower was converted into a Baroque church tower, now boasting one of the most beautiful tower helmets in Styria. The Gothic cross in the altar area and the church interior were also Baroquized.

The Romanesque charnel house is one of the most significant art-historical relics of "Staufer period" architecture in present-day Austria. Here, late Romanesque meets delicate early Gothic. Open for visits from Monday to Sunday during the day.

Guides for Hartberg:

Hannes Portugaller, +43 676 62 81 884, hannes.portugaller@yahoo.com

Kerstin Hilsberg, +43 670 40 30 931, kerstin.hilsberg@zeitversetzt.at

Sibylle Gauby, +43 676 53 02 456, s.gauby@gmx.at