Kreuzbichl Chapel (Divided Church)

The divided church at Kreuzbichl (also: Kreuzbichl chapel) is a Roman Catholic church near Gmünd in the Carinthian Oberland, through which a busy road leads. The sanctuary is on one side of the street, and there is a two-story gallery on the other side of the street, where churchgoers can sit and listen to the sermon from the sanctuary. This curiosity is unique in the world. The building is under monument protection

The church probably goes back to a wayside shrine called "Kreuz am Bichl" (Bichl, Bühel = small hill) from the 15th century, which became a chapel in 1588. That's why this chapel was now called "Kreuzbichlkapelle".The room for believers was built later, probably to provide protection for travelers during their prayers in front of the chapel. The church was probably also renovated and provided with a Latin inscription, which in German translation reads "By his blood we have been justified" and whose red highlighted letters result in the year 1784.Further assumptions about the reason for the expansion are that it also served as a directional cross for the Gmünder place of execution, the Galgenbichl about a kilometer away, to which the Fasschaun woman also walked her last walk. It is also believed that merchants used this place to offer their prayers of thanks for successfully crossing the mountains and avoiding raids.