Evangelical parish church in Traun

The Evangelical Parish Church of Traun was founded in 1913 in the Upper Austrian municipality of Traun. The parish is associated with the Evangelical Church AB in Austria and is under the authority of the Upper Austrian Evangelical Superintendency.

In 1901 and 1905, land lots were purchased for development purposes. The church’s cornerstone was set on March 25, 1913. Roithner, the master builder, was tasked with overseeing the construction process. The commission for the altar group, portraying a laborer and a farmer beneath the cross, was entrusted to Bad Aussee woodcarver Alois Feichtinger. The inside of the church is simple, in keeping with the Protestant concept that the preaching should be the focus of the congregation’s attention. Consecration of the church took place on September 8, 1913.

The church’s interior has a wooden roof, a pulpit, a gallery, and an organ from 1957.The bell tower’s construction took place between 1983 and 1984. There was already one bell, and the women’s group supplied two more. “Faith,” “Love,” and “Hope” have been assigned to the bells.

When Emperor Maximilian II took the throne in 1564, it was discovered that about 90% of the population was Protestant.Following the Counter-Reformation, and especially after the Upper Austrian Peasants’ War of 1628, public religious practice came to an end.Emperor Joseph II issued the tolerance patent in 1781, authorizing the restoration of Protestant congregations in Habsburg domains.By 1795, a total of 48 settlements advocating tolerance had been created within Austria’s current borders.Thenning is the closest community to Traun with tolerance policies. The entrance of Swiss immigrants has resulted in a significant rise in the Protestant population since 1846. In the year 1852, a Protestant school was built. The opening of the Kremstalbahn in 1880 made Traun more accessible to surrounding pastors, allowing them to conduct regular services in the region.

In the year 1913, the church was dedicated. The parish was detached from Thenning and constituted as an autonomous parish of Traun in 1921. As a result of the Second World War, a large number of Transylvanian refugees relocated to the village, resulting in a considerable rise in its population to about 4500 people. For the first time, a dedicated pastor was assigned to the Haid subsidiary parish, which is under Traun’s authority, in 1985.