St. Mary's Parish Church

Name: St. Mary's Parish Church
Address: Hirschegg 1, Hirschegg-Pack, Graz - Region Graz, 8584, AT
Telephone: +43 3141 2207

Hirschegg-Pack

The parish church of St. Mary in Hirschegg is mentioned in documents as early as 1245. Today's church, a late Gothic hall church with three naves, was artistically executed in marble and stone between 1470 and 1490.

Opening hours

05/06/2018 - 31/12/2025

Monday - Sunday

08:00 - 17:00 o'clock

Admission fees

The parish church of St. Mary was built on a small hill between the Teigitsch and the Mitereggerbach.

The present church building, a three-nave late Gothic hall church with three slender pairs of columns, was artistically executed in marble and stone. In 1995, during the exterior renovation, about 40 different stonemason's marks were discovered. Star-ribbed vaults, the tracery on windows, the stone music gallery and the old organ from 1700 are beautiful details of the church. The length of the church is 26.4 m, the width and the height of the interior are 11 m each. The west portal with a curved pointed arch and fialem decoration as well as the lash crowning are significant.

The main altar depicts the birth of Christ. Instead of Joseph, we see God the Father himself holding a hand in blessing over the infant lying in a fold of his mother's coat. Four angels, magnificently and sweetly carved, carry this fold of the mantle, while one angel holds the hand of the Christ Child backwards. The ox and donkey look on curiously.

The name Hirschegg, described in a document in 1490 as "Hirßegk", which about 100 years ago could still be read as "Hirscheck" in the register books, is probably also connected with the old legend about Margrave Wilhelm. Margrave Wilhelm, the husband of Saint Hemma, often stayed in Hirschegg and was also an enthusiastic deer hunter. When his life was threatened by a large stag, the Margrave took refuge behind a tree stump and vowed to have a church built if he escaped with his life. Strangely enough, there is a stag on the high altar of the parish church in Hirschegg, lying in front of the altar shrine, in which the birth of Christ, wonderfully carved by a South German master, is depicted.