Churches in the Ruhpolding Valley

St. George's Parish Church

Construction of this hilltop church began in 1738, though it was notconsecrated by Bishop Franz Truchsess of Chiemsee until 1754. Gunezrhainer, the court’s master architect, kept the exterior façade simple. Yet everyone is certain to be touched by the harmony which radiates from the interior of this house of worship, by the monumental power of the high altar and by the artistic beauty of the carved saintly figures. The crowning glory of the shimmering golden Rococo interior of St. George's is undoubtedly on the left side of the chancel, a feature unmatched anywhere else in Bavaria. The golden case of the right-hand side altar houses the church’s most significant sculpture, the Romanesque Madonna from the 12th century. Its creator and origins are unknown.

Church Services: Saturday 7:00 p.m., Sunday 8:30 and 10:00 a.m.
Pastor : Otto Stangl

Contact:
Katholisches Pfarramt St. Georg, Kirchberggasse 9, 83324 Ruhpolding
Tel. +49 8663 1766, Fax +49 8663 5635
st-georg.ruhpolding@erzbistum-muenchen.de ,  www.st-georg-ruhpolding.de

The Protestant Church of St. John...

....was built on the Christl-Probst-Strasse – south of the Zeller Strasse – in 1952. The altar and Crucifixion group are the work of the Ruhpolding sculptor Andreas Schwarzkopf. The altar and baptismal font are made of Ruhpolding marble. The Crucifixion group is made of painted limewood and very impressive. The cross is manufactured from a three-hundred-year-old beam originally from a threshing barn at the Neustadler-Hof. The church is open daily and invites visitors to sit in quiet contemplation beneath the cross.
Important Tip: The car park for visitors to the church is located by the speedway stadium, from where a pathway leads directly to the church (3 minutes).

Church Services: Sunday 09:30 a.m.
Pastor: Thomas Schmeckenbecher

Contact:
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Pfarramt, Christl-Probst-Str. 19, 83324 Ruhpolding
Tel. +49 8663 1687, Fax +49 8663 800530
pfarramt.ruhpolding@elkb.de ,  www.evangelisch-in-den-bergen.de

The Chapel of St. Valentin

enjoys a long tradition and is mentioned in ancient archives as early as 1450. It is thought that this was once the site of an old courthouse. The stone benches beneath the linden tree may well have served as the magistrates’ benches. The stone pillars were perhaps intended to evoke a site of execution. These are only theories, of course. The benches might equally as well have been seats for pilgrims, and the pillars monuments to the woodcutters who had perished on the Zellerberg. The interior of the chapel houses a rare treasure: the net-vaulted ceilings and the frescoes in the Gothic choir. Also of interest are the saintly figures which date from many different centuries.