| The Krankenhauskirche St. Johannes is a parish church within the St. Johanns-Spital, the biggest general hospital of Salzburg. It is not to be confused with the Johanneskirchlein at the Kapuzinerberg. Despite of being a parish church since 1891, the primary objective of the Krankenhauskirche is the spiritual care for the 48,000 people that are hospitalised at this facility every year.
The Kirche St. Johannes is a Baroque church and is incorporated into the oldest part of the hospital; it divides the two wings that were for men and women. The Krankenhauskirche St. Johannes was built by the famous Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who also designed the Dreifaltigkeitskirche, the Markuskirche and the Kollegienkirche.
Like all of the original hospital, the construction was endowed by Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun und Hohenstein around 1700. The bishop used his private fortune for financing the hospital and its maintenance until his death. He consecrated the new church personally in 1704. The church and the hospital were built on the foundations of a previously existing castle, Schloss Grimming or Schloss Müllegg.
The Krankenhauskirche St. Johannes has an antechapel that is separated from the main nave of the building. In this antechapel, you will find the entrance to the Priestergruft of "Priest′s Tomb", which contains an urn with the intestines of Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun und Hohenstein. Within the main nave, you will see that the main altar is on something like a balcony; underneath this balcony, there is a crypt with space for further tombs.
It is a reference to death and should recall the awareness of mortality in the worshippers - a typical Baroque intention often summarised with the catch-phrase "memento mori" ("recall death"). The main altar itself contains paintings by Johann Michael Rottmayr, one of Austria′s most famous (non-Italian) painters of the Baroque age. |