Synodal Path runs straight through the Church and divides it in two

There can be no greater, albeit unconscious symbol for the modern Catholic Church than the Divided Church at Kreuzbichl (also known as Kreuzbichl Chapel) is a Roman Catholic church near Gmünd in the Carinthian Oberland, through which a busy road runs. On one side of the street is the sanctuary, and on the other side is a two-story gallery where churchgoers can sit and listen to the sermon from the sanctuary. This curiosity is unique in the world. The building is a listed monument.

History

The church probably dates back to a 15th-century wayside shrine called "Kreuz am Bichl" (Bichl, Bühel = small hill), which became a chapel in 1588. Therefore, this chapel was now called "Kreuzbichl Chapel."

Probably to provide protection for travelers during their devotions in front of the chapel, the worshippers' room was later built. The church was probably also renovated at this time and inscribed with a Latin inscription, which translates in German as "By his blood we have been justified," and whose red highlighted letters represent the year 1784.

Further speculation about the reason for the expansion is that it also served as the executioner's cross for the Gmünd execution site, the Galgenbichl, located about a kilometer away, where the Faschauner woman also took her final journey. It is also assumed that merchants found a place here to offer their prayers of thanks for the successful crossing of the mountains and the lack of attacks by highwaymen and robber barons. Perhaps the gallery was also built for the numerous participants in the processions.

Description of the Building

The two-part church is located in the Liesertal valley northeast of Gmünd on the former Roman road that led over the Katschberg and Tauern mountains to Salzburg. Both parts of the building are plastered pink, and the wall edges and corners are white. The church has a small bell tower, whose bell is rung during mass.

East of the street is the rectangular chapel building, a late Baroque structure, essentially Gothic, with a Gothic cross-ribbed vault, hipped roof, and bell tower. The chancel is about two meters above street level, opens onto the street side through a large round arch, and is protected from the street by a wrought-iron gate. A staircase leads into the chapel on the side. A scene of the Deposition from the Cross, originally painted on the chapel wall by Josef Messner in 1861, was painted over in 1925 and renovated in 1944. Other wall paintings in the vestibule date from 1754 and were renewed in 1991/92.

Opposite the "half" chapel stands a building with prayer benches and a gallery with seating. This later addition is also open to the street and protected by a gate. While access was initially only possible via a ladder, a side staircase was later added.

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