When you enter St. Josef’s church in Weiden through the main entrance, your gaze is drawn to the vast apse with its gorgeous painting, whose colors are primarily gold and blue.  This is what is known as a Throne of Mercy: the Trinity is represented with Christ as a king instead of a sufferer. The cross extends beyond the edge of the painting, thus showing Christ’s role as an intermediary between God and mankind.

Between the windows in the apse there are complete figures of the Apostles with inscriptions, accompanied by a frieze of angels, including one with an offering cup and another with the Crown of Immortality.

Between the two windows showing St. Sebastian and St. Michael is the figure of St. Josef, the patron saint of the church. Kiefersfeld marble was one of the materials used for the cladding in the church, including the apses and transepts. This material was also used around the high altar and pulpit. Otherwise, the high altar, which measures four meters (13.12 feet) in width, is made of gilded copper and was designed by the architect Schott as a medieval shrine for relics, with a tabernacle tower in the center and the four symbols of the Evangelists in the predella.

The reliefs were created by the Munich sculptor Georg Albertshofer and have the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as their theme: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and The Finding of Jesus in the Temple.

In the northern bay, there are busts of the four Doctors of the Church, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, and Chrysostom in a peculiar mixture of the Latin and Greek fathers of the church. On the left, Christ is represented as someone who loves children. Then, in the main chancel, the Mother of God also appears with a child, with the angels paying homage to her with music and holding a crown over her. Opposite her, the beginnings of the public legacy of Jesus are shown in his baptism in Jordan. Beneath that is something that seems very curious: two heads in profile that are bent toward each other in dispute. This has nothing to do with anything Christian: this is the Weiden parish priest Max Josef Söllner and the artist Franz Hofstötter, who by no means always agreed with each other.

The altars in the apses in the transept show a Sacred Heart of Jesus figure according to the vision of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, with St. Francis de Sales on the left, and Bernard of Clairvaux on the right. The church’s architect, Max Söllner, is buried in a tomb in front of the altar. The group of crosses in this apse does not originate from the period when this church was built. It is the only element of the old shared church that remains. The Corpus Christi dates back to the 17th century, and the Our Lady of Sorrows is attributed to Ignaz Günther (1725-1775) from Altmannstein.

The altar on the right is dedicated to the Lay Carmelites, who already existed before the church was built. In the center, flanked by Joachim and Anne, appears the Mother of God with her child, and she hands the scapular to St. Simon Stock. Under it are nine small figures of saints who were chosen according to the Christian names of those who donated money for the construction of the church. In the apse, there are also plaques on the walls bearing the names of the Fallen of World War I. In 1976, six bronze plaques made by Günter Mauermann bearing the names of the Fallen of World War II were added to these. 

The change appears in the transept: the decor in the three chancels was focused on the Old and New Covenants, and now, visions of the end times and the Last Judgment appear in the crossing vault, culminating in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. At the center hover the four apocalyptic creatures the eagle, the lion, the bull, and man, which are also ascribed to the Evangelists as symbols and each have six wings. Below each of these appears one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse with a bow and a wreath. The figures in the corners symbolize humans’ fear.
Under these come powerful stucco angels which seem to hold up the vault like Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders. The apocalyptic visions come true in the Glorification of the Lamb, and are represented in the flattened domes of the two apses of the transept. On the right: a scene showing the opening of the Fifth Seal: the sign of the cross on burning steps. Heaven’s infinite magnificence is depicted on the left: in the center is a golden throne on which the Lamb of God is seated. Around the throne are assembled the angels and elders that have gathered to praise the Lamb. Before them are ranked the “vast host of all nations and tribes...”. They are wearing white garments and palm leaves.

The organ gallery is richly ornamented and is dominated by a powerful angel in typical Jugendstil that supports a music stand with hands raised. The busts of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of church music, and St. Gregory are also to be found here.

In the aisles, the decoration is used more sparingly. The 16 stained-glass windows show the Stations of the Cross with Christ on the Mount of Olives, and the Resurrection. Over the side entrances there are paintings connected to St. Josef: Rest During the Flight on the entrance leading to the presbytery; opposite: members of the church congregation gather around St. Josef with Max Söllner and ask for protection for their church.

The special iconography of the church is due to the theological knowledge of the Ludwigsthal parish priest Johann Wolfgruber, whose church was painted in full by Hofstötter between 1896 and 1901. He must have been highly educated. The “program” that is kept up throughout the church strictly concerns Christ, who is the focus as God and as a man. Title of the overall motto: “The image of Christ, our God.” We are guided through precursor themes from the Old Testament in the nave, to His incarnation and work on Earth in the chancel, to His emergence as part of the Trinity which determines our lives in the apse of the chancel. The Doctors of the Church and the Apostles appear as witnesses to His divinity. Then, in the transept, come the visions of the future with the visions of the Last Judgment after the Apocalypse.

In its coherence, also regarding its architecture and interior decoration, St. Josef’s church is essentially to be regarded as a unique, sacred building from the Jugendstil period.