Pfarrkiche Herrnau:
a modern Parish Church for Salzburg

Just after World War II, millions of ethnic Germans were expelled from their homes in Eastern Europe and went westwards in their quest for a safe place to settle. Thousands arrived in Salzburg and founded new settlements. A typical neighbourhood that developed after the war is the area between Nonntal and Hellbrunn, today′s district "Salzburg Süd".

It comprises of three sections, the Josefiau, the Herrnau and the Alpensiedlung. In the Herrnau, many ethnic Germans from today′s Romania and Bohemia settled. This created a need for a new church in Herrnau - which had been effectively little more than a swamp and forests until WWII. In 1958, the construction of the Pfarrkirche Herrnau was started. Archbishop Andreas Rohracher consecrated the modern church in 1961.

The Pfarrkirche Herrnau is a typical building of the late 1950ies or early 1960ies, the architect in charge was Robert Kramreiter-Klein. It comprises of a round, tent-like concrete hall and a freely standing tower in the style of a campanile. The Pfarrkirche Herrnau is dedicated to St. Erentrudis, the niece of St. Rupert and first abbess of the nunnery of Stift Nonnberg. The inside of the church is very light and characterised by a large window with stained glass: 320 square metres of stained glass make it one of the biggest of its kind and age in the world.

It was made by Margret Bilger; it is echoed by a similar, but much smaller window in a chapel next to the church, done by Max Weiler. The parish is influenced strongly by a local community of nuns, that originated from Bohemia, who had their nunnery built here at the same time and in the same style. The tower of the church is visible from far: It is 42 metres high and has four bells, that are attached on the outside of the building. Together, they have a weight of 4,260 kilograms.

Further Reading

http://kirchen.net/
Entry of the parish Herrnau on the website of the diocese


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