Bürgerspitalkirche Gmunden

Saints, missionaries and inquisitors

Built in the middle of the 14th century, the Bürgerspitalkirche in Gmunden is dedicated to St. James the Elder. He is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and one of His first companions. As “hospital church of St. James” it is a listed building. It belonged to the formerly adjoined public hospital, whose records date back to 1343, which cared for needy citizens and was in operation until 1789.

From the 15th century on, the hospital church is the church of the salt authority in the adjacent Kammerhof, and its high-profile personas are buried here. Known as the official chapel, funerals, baptisms and weddings take place here too.

Built by an unknown master builder, the church is single aisled, with a two-bay nave and ribbed vault.

A special feature is the barred window on the right wall at the top of the passage to the Kammerhof building. This allowed residents of the house to comfortably attend masses without having to enter the church. The window has been reopened and today it is possible to access the church interior from the museum as well as viewing it.

In the central section of the neo-Gothic high altarpiece, built in the 19th century, there are four kneeling statues under the enthroned Madonna: Saint James, Saint George, Saint Charles Borromeo and Saint Francis Xavier.

Saint Charles Borromeo was Archbishop of Milan in the 16th century and a staunch supporter of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. When Italian Protestants flee to Graubünden, Charles Borromeo, who has come especially for the occasion, persuades the local authorities, who do not allow any trials for heresy, to simply accuse the Protestants of witchcraft instead.

There is also a statue of Saint Francis Xavier on the altarpiece. He is a co-founder of the Jesuit order and a pioneer of Christian missionary work in East Asia. Like Charles Borromeo, he too knows little mercy. Since many people in India are baptised, but continue to adhere to their old rituals, Francis Xavier asks the King of Portugal to send the Inquisition to India in 1545.

To the left and right of the enthroned Madonna are Saint Barbara and Saint Agnes, both martyrs. On either side of the high altar are life-size figures of the apostles Peter and Paul.

On the left wall we find the altar of the Virgin Mary, on the right the altar of Saint Joseph. A special feature of this altar is its depiction of the marriage of Joseph and Mary, rarely portrayed in the visual arts.

In the course of renovation in the 17th century, the Gothic walls are given an onion tower, which is later replaced by a tapered roof.

Unfortunately, there was hardly anything left of the original Gothic furnishings, so the church was provided with a neo-Gothic inventory in the 19th century. The architecture, cross ribs, a coat of arms fresco from the time of Maximilian in around 1490 and the late Gothic sandstone portal, which was moved to the new main entrance in the arcades, are the only witnesses of the Gothic period.