St. Michael

St. Michael is a Roman Catholic parish church in Schatzhofen, part of the municipality of Furth in Lower Bavaria. Its Romanesque origins remain visible in the apse, nave, and tower. The listed church began as a fortified stone building, later gaining Baroque and Neo-Romanesque additions. Its yellow façade has white pilasters and round-arched windows. The cross-shaped plan joins the Romanesque choir and apse with a western Baroque nave. The tower rises above the apse in the church’s distinctive choir-tower design. Its square lower section becomes octagonal before ending in a pointed spire with small triangular gables. Inside, a half-domed apse, flat ceiling, organ gallery, and rounded arches define the space. The ceiling painting shows farmers pausing to pray. Fritz Muth’s work also depicts St. Isidore crowned by Jesus, reflecting local agricultural devotion.

Neo-Romanesque altars focus on St. Michael, Mary, and Sacred Heart imagery. A gilded tabernacle and silver candlesticks enrich the main altar. The pulpit presents the four Evangelists and Jesus as the Good Shepherd in carved reliefs. Other works include statues of St. Sebastian, St. Roch, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Conrad of Parzham. The church also preserves a baptismal group from the workshop of Christian Jorhan the Elder. Its mechanical organ stands in a Neo-Romanesque case. St. Michael belongs to the Furth–Schatzhofen parish community and remains a protected historical monument.