Parish church of Dornbirn-St. Martin

Dornbirn-St. Martin’s Roman Catholic parish church (also known as Marktkirche or Pfarrkirche Dornbirn-Markt) is located in the town of Dornbirn in the district of Dornbirn in Vorarlberg.It is dedicated to Saint Martin and is part of the Dornbirn Deanery of the Feldkirch Diocese.The church sits in the center of Markt am Marktplatz.

A preacher and a church may be located in 1266 and 1401.Following a fire in 1669-1670, the church was expanded and baroque-styled.From 1751 to 1753, Kaspar Koller’s plans were implemented in the construction of a new edifice.The current neoclassical new edifice was built between 1839 and 1840 following Martin von Kink’s designs and consecrated in 1857. The restored edifice was orientated with the choir to the west, and it received a majestic temple façade on the market square with six free columns and a classic pediment triangle.From 1967 to 1969, architect Emil Steffan refurbished and remodeled the interior.

The cemetery that previously ringed the church was rebuilt in 1842, about 300 meters east of the town hall as the crow flies, and it still remains today.Martinspark presently includes the previous “old” cemetery, which was dismantled and partially replaced with trees.In 1854, the pastor built a missionary cross in the old cemetery.

The church contains a huge hall and a circular chancel under a gable roof, as well as a columned porch across the main gable façade and a free-standing church tower to the north with a pointed gable helmet.Above the three portals on the entrance wall is a fresco of Christ the Judge of the Worlds, on the left the Entry of the Warriors into Heaven with Saints Martin and Mary, and on the right the Church Doctors Augustine, Jerome, and Chrysostom, as well as poets Dante and Milton and artists Michelangelo, Dürer, Rubens, Signorelli, and above the Battle of the Evil Spirits by the painter Josef Huber from 1923.Josef Huber’s 1924 mosaic arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem graces the portico pediment.

Inside, on the ceiling, is an 1849 painting by Johann Kaspar Rick depicting the Adoration of the Magi and Shepherds, including characters from the Old and New Testaments.Franz Plattner created further frescoes between 1876 and 1877.