landscapes - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1978 - 3.50 Shilling

The area around Oberwart, which is located in southern Burgenland, is an ancient cultural land whose history is characterized by its fate as a border region. Traces of a settlement date back to the younger Stone Age. The city today is essentially the result of the merging of two old, peripherally located districts. Its greatest upswing experienced the place until the 19th century. In 1841 Oberwart got the market right, on 6 July 1939 it was raised to the city. The first church building was probably built around 1400. A document from 1463 mentions a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, who may well have been a parish. The Osterkirche in Oberwart in its present form represents the extension of an old church, which was made in the years from 1967 to 1969. The entire complex consists of two blocks on either side of a wide flight of steps leading to the entrance of the old church. The right-wing block unites the church hall with the sacristy, the priest's room and the weekday chapel.