Johannsspitalkirche

The Roman Catholic St. Johann’s Church (Johannsspitalkirche) is located in the Salzburg district of Mülln, in the region of the Salzburg State Hospitals (now the University Hospital).

The classic baroque structure with the church in the centre and the hospitals on the side on the grounds of Grimming Castle, purchased in 1688 and afterwards demolished, was gifted by Johann Ernst von Thun.Only the Mülleggtor, the old western city gate of Mülln’s suburb, which Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau had erected at the time, remained and was integrated in the hospital structure.

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach was in charge of the building’s design and construction.Originally, the hospital was a hostel (hospital) for pilgrims, poor students, destitute journeymen, and other needy people.The hostel, as intended, has a very modest design and impresses with its architecture.The hospital’s west wing, the first men’s hospital, was finished in 1695, and the east wing, the original women’s hospital, in 1699-1703.The church was likewise finished in 1703 and dedicated that year.

Since 1891, the church has functioned as an autonomous parish in Salzburg-St. Johannes at the state hospital, and has been in charge of pastoral care across the hospital region, including the residences and nurses’ flats.Camillians OSC care for her at St. Camillus College in Parsch, from where the hospital pastoral care of various Salzburg and foreign medical institutions comes.

The church hall features a south-facing façade with a two-story vestibule.The church front is supported by slender, massive pillars.The front of the church entryway is made up of three high rectangular gates with three windows above them.Wrought iron grilles seal the gates at the top.They were built in 1704 and, like the church facade, feature the coat of arms of the donor, Johann Ernst von Thun.The lower hospital doors are flush with the façade’s sides.

A marble railing with a figure of Saint John the Baptist is located above the entablature of the vestibule’s front.The church itself features a recessed front above the church entryway with a construction composed of pilaster strips, a triangular roof, and thin bell towers on the sides with little lanterns attached.Because of the low expansions of the sacristy and the parament chamber in the north, the church has a rectangular floor layout.The construction is built in phases and rises to the roof gable.

On both sides of the foyer, there are connecting doors to the hospitals or hospital wing.The hall’s side niches include larger-than-life sculptures of Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara from the first half of the 18th century.Diego Francesco Carlone created the church’s stucco work, which principally consists of exquisite stucco frames, leaf rods, leaf garlands, and stucco cartouches.The pulpit, which is stuccoed with an oratory parapet, is located in the northern wall niche.The grave slab for the entrails of the donor, Johann Ernst von Thun, is located in the church’s floor.Saint Joseph and Saint Anne with Mary are shown in two side niches.

The main altar is placed on an oval terrace with side stairs in a flat-arched altar niche.Above the altar are stuccoed putti and angels, with God the Father and the Holy Spirit’s dove at the top.Heinz Tesar created the altar table itself.The top of the tabernacle depicts a miniature crucifixion group and angel figures holding the instruments of Christ’s agony.The side altars feature a flat frame and are adorned on the sides with putti and herms of angels.The altarpieces, both painted by Johann Michael Rottmayr in 1709, depict John the Baptist’s preaching in the west (left).and the decapitation of Saint Barbara on the right.