St Catherine's Church

A 14th-century Gothic church in the heart of the old town, with the oldest intact frescoes in Tyrol

St Catherine's Church — the Katharinenkirche — is a small High Gothic church in the pedestrianised centre of Kitzbühel, built between 1360 and 1365 when the town was prospering from copper and silver mining in the surrounding hills. The exterior is modest, with a narrow nave and a pointed bell tower, but the interior holds the oldest surviving frescoes in Tyrol: scenes from the life of St Catherine painted in the 1360s, in the flat, gold-accented style of late Gothic Tyrolean painting.

The church was de-consecrated in the 18th century and is now used as a lapidary museum displaying carved stone epitaphs and monuments from the medieval and early modern periods. Entry is included with the town's museum ticket. It is a ten-minute walk from the Hahnenkamm cable car station, in the highest part of the old town.

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A story
The Katharinenkirche was built between 1360 and 1365, just as Kitzbühel was growing rich from copper and silver mining. The frescoes inside are contemporary with the construction — making them among the oldest surviving paintings in Tyrol. The church was de-consecrated in the 18th century and now serves as a lapidary museum of local stone carvings and sepulchral monuments.