ÖSTERREICH	AUSTRIA
Bundesland: Oberösterreich	Upper Austria
Bezirk: Vöcklabruck

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The earliest mention of Puchheim in a document dates from 1136, while the village of Attnang was first documented in 1242 (as Otenang). The opening in 1877 of the railway line into the Salzkammergut (Lake District) with its salt mines started a period of growth for Puchheim. The expansion of the railway station (which prior to that date had already been the terminus of the first coal railway line in Austria) soon caused the villages of Attnang and Puchheim to merge into one town. The name Attnang-Puchheim was officially introduced in 1912. As Attnang-Puchheim was an important railway junction, the town suffered extensive damage in World War II by a bomb raid in 1945. The rebuilding of the town after the war soon re-established the role of Attnang-Puchheim as an important traffic junction.

Puchheim castle [right] dates back to around 1050. The original castle was destroyed completely by a fire in 1585 but was rebuilt soon thereafter. Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg-Este, Grand Master (Hoch- und Deutschmeister) of the Teutonic Order, called the order of the Redemptorists into Attnang-Puchheim in 1851. The last owners of the castle, Prince René and Duchess Maria Antonia of Bourbon-Parma, were buried in the castle chapel of St. George in 1962 and 1969, respectively. Today, the castle is in possession of the order of the Redemptorists.

Next to the castle, the pilgrimage church Maria Puchheim (Unsere Liebe Frau von der immerwährenden Hilfe) (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) [left] was built between 1886 and 1890. The church received the title of Basilica minor from Pope Pius XII in 1951.

(see also list of other basilicae minores depicted on glasses of this collection)