St. Elisabeth Spitalskirche

The Murau Evangelical Elisabeth Church is the spiritual core of the Evangelical Parish AB Murau-Lungau, which is part of the Evangelical Superintendent AB Styria.The parish includes Salzburg’s Lungau as well as the administrative Styrian district of Murau.

The hospital church of St. Elizabeth, which is located on the city side of the market bridge, was first mentioned in a document in 1329 and was restored in the 17th century.From the beginning of the Reformation about 1528 through the Counter-Reformation and Protestant expulsion in 1599, it was a Protestant church.Emperor Joseph II profaned and auctioned it off in 1789.A wooden floor was installed in 1923, and the facility was used as a gymnasium until 1975, and then as a table tennis hall until 1977.

Because to Emperor Joseph II’s tolerance patent of 1781, evangelical Christians who had previously been obliged to practice clandestine Protestantism in the underground were allowed to re-establish so-called tolerance communities.Murau was cared for by many congregations until arriving at the Judenburg parish in 1918, which had been re-established that year and had become a preaching station in 1966.Murau was founded in 1985 as a Judenburg subsidiary municipality.

Murau has had a prayer chamber available since 1920. In 1979, the Elisabeth Church was consecrated as a dignified place of worship after more than 200 years. The church has been turned into an evangelical diocesan museum in parts.

In 2002, the Protestant community paid a symbolic price for Karel Schwarzenberg’s Elisabeth Church.

Between 1628 and 1644, the three-bay early Baroque hall was constructed. The east tower and sacristy, as well as the high, narrow pointed arch windows in the nave’s south wall, preserve Gothic characteristics from the original church.A barrel vault on pierced pilasters with lunettes and stucco panels with bead and egg lattice frames attributed to Giuseppe Pazarino from around 1640 may be found in the nave.The north-east corner tower has arched sound apertures and a baroque dome.A Gothic south window and a strong ribbed vault with a leaf rose window capstone may be seen in the southeast corner sacristy.

Under the nave lies a lower church with a Platzl vault on belt arches.

The church contains a typical pulpit altar, church pews, a little transportable organ, and other minor items of art.