Tourism Development of the Fortified Church of St. Oswald
The EU LEADER development program encouraged us to take a new step forward.
After completing a full renovation program, the fortified church is now being made more accessible to a broader public.
A newly created walking tour allows you to gain intriguing insights and perspectives on the church. Existing features are cast in a new light, and even enhanced with the addition of modern elements.
We seized the opportunity and took yet another step in 2016. Within barely a year, thanks to subsidies from the EU LEADER program, we were able to allow visitors and residents of the mountain town of Eisenerz to experience St. Oswald’s in a whole new way.
Steel info boards accompany you on your tour of the fortifications and church, drawing your attention to specific features, both indoors and out. A highlight for tourists will undoubtedly be a newly built steel battlement and lookout platform: a modern replica of the original wooden structure, located on the inner side of the defensive walls.
The bannister already created by Feldbach artist Roswitha Dautermann shows us conceptually and symbolically the close ties between our ore-mining tradition, the town itself and the fortified church. When seen in combination, they penetrate deeper and deeper into the mysteries of Innerberg and the people who live here, and provide a whole new way to understand the town of Eisenerz.
Visitors will now also be able to look out over, and enjoy a whole new perspective of the former cemetery, before the tour concludes back inside the church.
