Kirche St. Johann im Mauerthale

The church in St. Johann im Mauerthale is difficult to identify according to its original purpose. It was neither a parish church nor a pilgrimage church!

The church in St. Johann im Mauerthale is difficult to identify according to its original purpose. It was neither a parish church nor a pilgrimage church; it was clearly a place of worship dedicated to a special cause and purpose.

The branch church of St. John the Baptist was first mentioned in 1240 in a donation from Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg to St. Peter's Abbey in Salzburg. The church dates back to the 1st half of the 15th century. The square tower with a masonry helmet, which becomes octagonal at the top, has a rooster pierced with an arrow at the top, which refers to a legend about the Devil's Wall on the other side of the Danube. The interior of the church is simple. A flat-roofed hall with high-quality wall paintings from the second quarter of the 13th to the 15th century.

The tomb of St. Albinus, which used to stand free in the middle of the church, is located in the niche at the back left with the figure of the saint as a pilgrim from the beginning of the 16th century. There are several legends surrounding the tomb and the saint, who is not known anywhere else in the canon of saints.

Next to the church under the large bell tower is a baroque fountain in a round stone setting. It is possible that there was a pre-Christian water sanctuary here, which became a Christian baptistery. St. John the Baptist as patron saint of the church and patron saint against floods as well as of winegrowers could point to this.
The castle of St. Johann im Mauerthale is also interesting.