Kirche Mariä Himmelfahrt

The name Vordernberg first appears in a document dated March 12, 1314, when Duke Frederick the Fair forbade the iron producers south of the Erzberg to deliver their iron to anywhere other than Leoben.

At the beginning of the 14th century, a legal and economic separation of the two iron towns began. In 1453, Emperor Frederick III awarded Vordernberg the market coat of arms and granted it market rights. Vordernberg became one of the most famous centers of iron production for centuries.

At the beginning of the 16th century, 14 wheelworks can be found on the Vordernberg stream. As, with a few exceptions, the wheel masters had to live near their smelting works, numerous manor houses were built in the village, which still characterize the townscape of Vordernberg today. As the settlement essentially remained near the church in the upper part of the village, the village was divided into two parts, with the religious center of the village being located in this area at the time.

The Chapel of Our Lady, which was built in the lower part of the village when the market was established, only became a parish church in 1830.

The former parish church - first dedicated to St. Elisabeth and later to St. Laurentius, which was repeatedly ravaged by fires over the centuries - was long visited by pilgrims from all over the area who hoped for help in times of need and illness at the miraculous cross. It has survived much in the past and is now once again a peaceful place of contemplation.