Hemma of Gurk

Hemma of Gurk
Bornc. 980 (973 by some sources)
Died29 June 1045 (aged 64–65)
Occupationsaristocrat, countess, Fürstin (princess)
TitleMargravine an der Sann
Saint

Hemma of Gurk
Hemma of Gurk Wearing the Order of the Swan by Sebald Bopp, c. 1500
Bornc. 980
Died29 June 1045 (aged 64–65)
Gurk, Carinthia
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Beatified21 November 1287
Canonized5 January 1938 by Pope Pius XI
Major shrineCrypt of Gurk Cathedral
Feast27 June
AttributesDepicted as a noble lady with either a model of a church, a legal deed or a rose, or distributing alms.
PatronageDiocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt; State of Carinthia; invoked during childbirth and against diseases of the eye; extreme hangovers

Hemma of Gurk (German: Hemma von Gurk; c. 980 – 29 June 1045), also called Emma of Gurk (Slovene: Ema Krška), was a noblewoman, Fürstin (princess) and founder of several churches and monasteries in the Duchy of Carinthia. Buried at Gurk Cathedral since 1174, she was beatified on 21 November 1287 and canonised on 5 January 1938 by Pope Pius XI. Her feast day is 27 June. Hemma is venerated as a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as patroness of the current Austrian state of Carinthia.