Parish Church "St. Bartholomäus"

St. Bartholomew Parish Church and its History

The church in Unterach, built around 990, was probably a small wooden church dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The first written reference to the parish of Unterach is found in a deed of sale for the Vaschang estate at the end of the 14th century. In the second half of the 15th century, the Gothic predecessor of today's church was probably built, of which the core of the presbytery (chancel) has been preserved.


After the Reformation, the initially Catholic parish developed into a fully Protestant one by the second half of the 16th century. The first pastor known by name, Hans Eysele (1570-1581), built the rectory in 1573, on the site of which stands the present rectory, rebuilt in 1978. Official efforts to recatholicize the parish led to the appointment of a Catholic clergyman in 1600, and since the 1930s the parish has once again been predominantly Catholic. The church building, renovated in 1633, was considerably enlarged in the nave in the late 18th century. In 1783 the existing church was built and towards the end of the 19th century it was renovated and extended by the Lourdes Chapel. The most recent renovation began in 1984 and was completed in 1987, in time for the 1000th anniversary of the parish in 1990.