Dorfkapelle Tregist

About

The Tregist village chapel, also known as the Ortskapelle Tregist or the Chapel of Mary, Untier of Knots, is a Roman Catholic chapel located in the municipality of Bärnbach in western Styria. The chapel, dedicated to Holy Mary, is part of the Voitsberg parish and thus belongs to the Voitsberg pastoral area in the Styrian central region of the Graz-Seckau diocese. The first chapel on the site was consecrated in 1884, destroyed by a flood in the 1950s and subsequently demolished. Between 1986 and 1989, a new building was erected with the help of the local community and designed by the West Styrian sculptor and painter Franz Weiss. Weiss decorated both the exterior walls and the interior as a total work of art using a variety of artistic techniques, and created almost all the artistic design elements of the chapel himself. Only the two stained-glass windows were made by another master according to his designs.

The exterior walls of the chapel are adorned with large, colourful murals depicting biblical motifs with images of saints, popes and people who have rendered outstanding services to the proclamation of the Christian teachings. In addition to saints such as Martin of Tours, Mother...

The village chapel is located in the part of the dispersed settlement of Tregisttal [ de ] belonging to the municipality of Bärnbach, at an altitude of around 470 metres above sea level, on the left bank of the Tregistbach [ de ] stream. The Tregistbach flows past the chapel about 5 metres to the west, while the Altsteigbach flows about 5 metres to the south. The Altsteigbach runs into the Tregistbach immediately to the south-west of the chapel. Both watercourses form the municipal boundary to the municipality of Voitsberg.

The Tregisttalstraße, which leads from Tregist [ de ] to Tregisttal and ends in this village, runs directly to the east. The Alaunfabrik inn, which dates back to the former alum factory, is located 10 metres to the east in the municipality of Voitsberg. About 50 metres south-east of the chapel is the former Tregist primary school, which has been converted into a museum of the work of Franz Weiss.

To the south of the present village chapel, on the left bank of the Tregistbach stream, was originally a simple chapel from the nearby former alum factory, consecrated in 1884, destroyed by a flood from the Tregistbach around 1955 and subsequently demolished. The artist Franz Weiss lived near the old chapel and cherished it as a place of worship. As a young student of Rudolf Szyszkowitz [ de ], Weiss already wanted to paint the old chapel. Shortly after its destruction, he undertook to rebuild the monument in his own style.

Construction of the new place of worship began in the 1980s, with a site better protected from flooding being sought in the immediate vicinity of the old chapel. Like the old chapel, the new one was built on the left bank of the Tregistbach. Annemarie and Engelbert Pignitter donated the land for the new building, which was blessed on 29 June 1986. On the occasion of the blessing, Franz Weiss erected a plaque with a model of the church and the date of the blessing. Due to the fact that the chapel is located in the municipality of Bärnbach, but in the parish of Voitsberg, the construction was supported by grants from both municipalities. The actual construction of the chapel began in September 1986, and on 5 April 1987 the completion of the building work was celebrated with the blessing of the gable crosses. On 12 April 1987, the two bells donated by the local people were consecrated, and on 15 October 1989, the chapel itself was consecrated. Franz Weiss continued to work on the decoration of the building until 1992.