The oldest church around Riegersburg was the “Maria Magdalena-Kirchlein” in the old main parsonage, which was erected as chapel of the “Higher Stronghold” assumedly around 1100. With the erection of the princely market Riegersburg by Margrave Otakar III around 1140/50 the parish right was obviously transferred from the older chapel to the younger parish church in Riegersburg, which was built on princely property and then consecrated to St. Martin. Thus, the sovereign was also patron and administrator of the mother parish Riegersburg with the eleven later parishes Ilz, Feistritz, Altenmarkt near Fürstenfeld, Fürstenfeld, Söchau, Hatzendorf, Fehring, Feldbach, Paldau, Edelsbach and Hartmannsdorf under it. Therefore, the main priests of Riegersburg were among the richest and most respected priests of whole Styria; of all other Styrian parish churches only the city parish of Graz had higher revenues.
The priests of the vicariates had to accept the priest of Riegersburg as their liege lord and in addition they had to appear personally before him in Riegersburg twice a year at the head of a parish procession. In the second half of the 16th century Lutheran clergymen took the office of the main priest of Riegersburg and as a consequence evangelic predicants were employed in six subsidiary parishes. In the course of the Counter-Reformation the main parish and its subsidiaries became Catholic again. Since the 18th century we always appoint approved and respected priests (among them were doctors of theology, pontifical protonotaries, honorary capitular etc.) to the main priests of Riegersburg. The right to propose the main priests to the bishop for nomination was until recently entitled to the Princes of Liechtenstein as owners of the patronage. They also presented the current and probably last main priest, Geistlicher Rat Alois Hauptmann, to the bishop. Since then the Liechtenstein family has reclined the right of patronage, and so Geistlicher Rat Alois Hauptmann will be the last main priest of Riegersburg. Under him the office of the priest was relocated in 1979 from the old main rectory next to the Maria Magdalena-Chapel to the new built rectory next to the church. At the same time there was a well-done renovation of the church in 1979/81.