The Church of the Holy Christ´s Heart in the community of Malšín

Originally known as the Church of St. Markéta. In 1339 it was mentioned as the branch of the Rožmberk Parish Church. Nikolaus of Malšín was a rector. The sacristy of our days used to be a chapel consisting of two square fields dating from the second half of the 13th century. In 1360 the Church of St. Markéta in Malšín was mentioned as the parish church. There is a five-petal rose of The House of Rožmberk and the era 1593 above the south porch. The year 1593 should probably be the date when the church of our time was built. On 1 September 1677 Ferdinand Buquoy made the church over to the Cistercian Monastery in Vyšší Brod. The parish registers have been kept since 1664, and the parish chronicle has been kept since 1835. Ivo Pihale had been the first chaplain in 1880. There was the Elementary Parish School from 1665. The Czech inscription "In the year of Our Lord 1614" was written on the first bell dating from 1614. The bell was casted by Walentin Arnold in the town of České Budějovice.

The Parish Church of the Holy Christ´ Heart is originally a plaster building in the Gothic style situated in the middle of the churchyard. It consists of a three-axis nave, a choir and a five-side end. The sacristy is in the north side of the choir. The roof of the three-storey prismatoid spire is from the second half of the 19th century. The interior is in the Baroque and New Gothic style. The altar is wooden and partly gilden. In the middle of the altar there is a statue of Jesus Christ between the statues of St. Barbara and St. Catherine. There is the statue of St. John Nepomucký between the angels standing on the bent ledge. The lateral altars are wooden , in the New Gothic style dating from 1870. There is the Virgin Mary between the female saints in the north altar, and the statue of St. Joseph between St. Norbert and St. Rocheem in the south altar. The wooden pulpit is situated on the old stone pedestal. The very impressive polychrom Baroque statues of St. Sebastian and St. Florian at the three-quarter height are placed on the console. The eight-side baptismal font is wooden, simply profiled and there is a cross on the lid.

In 1870 twenty-five communities and settlements belonged to the Parish of Malšín. 2,086 Catholics lived in 296 houses. There were 25 houses and 190 Catholics in the community of Malšín. In 1945 there are mentioned 2,438 Catholics living in the Parish of Malšín. The parish had its own band. After the Germans had been shifted aside, there were not any settlers in most of the communities and settlements in 1946. As a consequence of it, they became extinct. However, the regular Mass have never been stopped. The Pilgrim Chapel of the Virgin Mary was built on the rocky promontory near Turnberg in 1856. Before that there might have been the watchfort along the two provincial trails. There is a nice view of Sternstein / Austria / from the chapel.

The Parish Church came to reawaken after the year 1990. The Parish Church of the Holy Christ´s Heart in Malšín and the Pilgrim Chapel of the Virgin Mary in Turnberg were restored thanks to the former natives led by Father F. Irsigler and the Vyšší Brod Monastery. In the beginning of the 3rd millennium the parish church was not only given the new plaster and roofing material but also the outside lighting. Now it is possible to see the parish church from Studánky. The documents dating from 1874 were found in the cupola while the spire was being restored. In 1941 the Malšín bells were confiscated and used for war purposes. On 4 August 2001 three new bells at the weight of 850, 720 and 280 kilograms were consecrated. They were casted in the bell-founding of Pernek in Pasov / Germany /.

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Further information:
History of the Vyšší Brod Region
Places of Pilgrimage in the Český Krumlov Region
Malšín
Ecclesiastical Object in the Český Krumlov Region