Description of the attraction
The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Nicholas is located in Bad Ischl. The first written mention of it dates back to 1320. In 1769 the church building was demolished and in 1771 a new building in the classicism style was erected in its place. The Gothic tower from 1490, reaching 72 meters in height, has been preserved in its original form. Since Ischl served as the summer residence of Kaiser Franz Josef, the church had a court status.
In 1870, new frescoes were purchased with donations from parishioners, and by 18 August 1880, when the fiftieth anniversary of the Kaiser was celebrated, the interior of the building was completely renewed. Most of the frescoes were created by the hand of master Georg Madera, and the altarpiece was designed by Leopold Kuperviser.
It is assumed that the first organ of the Church of St. Nicholas was installed in 1780, and in 1825 it was replaced by an instrument designed by the master Simon Anton Hötzel. Matthäus Mauraher built another organ in 1888, which has survived to this day, being significantly expanded from 1908 to 1910. It is known that at one time the famous Austrian composer Anton Bruckner regularly performed his works on this instrument.
It is noteworthy that services in the Croatian language are periodically held in the church of St. Nicholas. Also, annually in December, an evening called "Russian Christmas" is held, within the framework of which the Don Cossack choir performs Christmas carols, as well as folk songs in Russian.
