Parish Church Altenmarkt

The village of Altenmarkt near Fürstenfeld was donated to the Knights of St. John in 1234. The parish church dedicated to St. Donatus (formerly Maria in der Au) is incorporated to the Order of Malta to this day. The Romanesque building of the 13th century was a hall with a west tower. The rising masonry of the nave, which was later baroqueized, and the foundations of the west tower, which was rebuilt in the 15th century, still belong to the Romanesque building period, with a Romanesque funnel window visibly preserved on the west side. Around 1300, the Knights of St. John built an early Gothic choir. The single-bay structure with a 5/8 aisle has cross-rib vaults and sculpted keystones showing, from east to west, the divine hand of blessing, the Lamb of God, and the head of Christ. It was not until 1985 - 86 that the wall paintings in the choir of the church of Altenmarkt were uncovered. The picturesque overall decoration, which with red stars on a blue background, also includes the vault zone, can be dated to the beginning of the 14th century for stylistic reasons. Later changes in the choir caused several missing parts of the painting. On the north wall, the Annunciation to Mary, the Shepherd's Annunciation, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi are depicted between ornamental strips. Of the saints on the south wall, only St. Catherine of Alexandria with the wheel and St. Barbara with the chalice are identifiable. The remaining figures on the south wall, which were grouped around a central enthroned figure, have been preserved only in highly fragmented form due to the installation of a Baroque oratory. Stylistically, some of the paintings are still in the Romanesque tradition, as can be seen, for example, in the composition of the painting of the Nativity and the imitation of the late zigzag style in the folds of the vestments. On the other hand, the early Gothic ideal of the figure is already noticeable, especially in the figures of the south wall, which St. Catherine represents most clearly.