The St. Martin’s church is a catholic three-aisle galleried basilica, built between 1206 and 1214 at the spot of a Frankish church. It combines building influences from the late Romanesque, early Gothic and late Gothic periods. In addition, the murals (about 1230) are worth a look.

Mary Altar

The Marien Altar was probably donated by Johannes Ruysch, a nephew of the famous Linz scholar Tilman Joel, for the council chapel on the market square, consecrated in 1462 and demolished in 1818. After its demolition, the altar was moved to St. Martin's Church and served there, with interruptions, as a high altar until 1953. From 1967 to 2021 the triptych was the main altar of the Marienkirche. Due to problems with the statics of the Marienkirche, the Marien altar now adorns the baptistery of the parish church of St. Martin.

When open, the altar shows a scene of the Annunciation on the left inner wing. On the middle panel, the birth of Christ and the adoration of the Magi are shown above and the offering in the temple as well as Mary and Christ after the resurrection are shown below. The right inner wing shows the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and above it a trinitarian coronation of Mary. A second Annunciation appears on the left of the outer wings and the Crucifixion with Mary and John on the right. The painter of the Marien Altar is the so-called Master of the Lyversberg Passion, who appeared in Cologne around 1460. The altar is one of the first great works by this artist and is rooted in the long Cologne painting tradition.