St Wolfgang Tourist Attractions

On a terrace above the Wolfgangsee in St Wolfgang stands the Late Gothic pilgrimage church. Following a fire, it was rebuilt between 1429-77, and painted in Baroque style in 1683-97; in the 18th C. the tower was given a bell-shaped dome. In addition to the tower, three doorways come from the original church.

The church of St Wolfgang possesses an artistic masterpiece in the shape of the richly decorated winged high altar by Michael Pacher (1481). The superbly carved central section is richly gilded and portrays the Virgin Mary wearing a crown and kneeling before her Son in intercession for Mankind; by their sides stand St Wolfgang and St Benedict. The ciborium above consists of a number of slender pinnacles, with God the Father uppermost and below Him a superbly sculpted Crucifixion group. The predella, or base of the altar, depicts the Three Kings paying homage to the Infant Jesus. The insides of the two side panels show scenes from the life of Christ and Mary, including the Nativity and the Death and Assumption of Our Lady.

In St Wolfgang in the place of the earlier main pilgrimage altar stands the double altar of St Wolfgang and St John the Baptist, one of Thomas Schwanthaler's major works (1675-76). The left half of the altar has a cabinet containing a Gothic statue of St Wolfgang (15th C.), which was in the church when it was burnt down in 1429.

On the west wall of the St Wolfgang Church can be seen an impressive portrayal of The Suffering of Our Lord, carved by Meinrad Guggenbichler, the master artist from the monastery at Mondsee (18th C.).

The Wolganfgkapelle (St Wolfgang's Chapel), in the western part of St Wolfgang's Church, was built in Roccoco style in 1713 in order to include St Wolfgang's cell - which had previously stood in the open - in the structure of the church itself.

To the north of the St Wolfgang Church, in a fountain house, stands a beautiful bronze pilgrimage fountain (1515) with allegorical figures. The superstructure is the first Renaissance style work to be erected in Austria.

From St Wolfgang a cog railroad operating from May-October runs up in three-quarters of an hour by way of the Schafbergalpe (1,363m/4,472ft; inn) to the Schafberg (1,783m/5,850ft) to the north of the town. At the upper station is a hotel. From the summit, lying between the Wolfgangsee, the Mondsee and the Attersee, there is one of the finest views in the Eastern Alps. On foot, the climb from St Wolfgang takes 3.5 to 4 hours. Fifteen minutes' walk to the north of St Wolfgang rears the Kalvarienberg, with a beautiful view over the lake.