Hospital Church

Hospital Church of St. John the Baptist in Iphofen

A hospital church ( hospital church , also called Spittelkirche ) was a charitable foundation in the Middle Ages , in the narrower sense often also referred to as a hospital foundation . Most of them were hospitals, nursing homes or old people's homes that had their own church building. The citizen hospital churches in larger cities were only reserved for those residents who had the citizenship of the city; in such cities there were also other hospitals and hospital churches for non-citizens. The words hospital and the abbreviated hospital are derived from the Latin hospes (guest, host) or from the associated adjective hospitalis (of the guest, belonging to the guest). Originally, hospital referred to a mostly Christian poor house.

According to late medieval beliefs, nursing requires high rooms, good ventilation and constant monitoring. These were given in the additions connected to the churches by galleries or elevated walkways. In hospital churches, the sick were also given a view of the high altar . The hospital tracts were usually connected to the hospital churches by windows or arcades. This gave them the opportunity to attend church services and thus strengthen their spiritual powers. Some also hoped for a miracle . The support of the hospital foundations by wealthy citizens in the Middle Ages was also borne by the confidence that through visible Christian charity in this world - in the form of mild gifts to the poor - to obtain forgiveness of sins and penalties in the hereafter . Accordingly, it was natural for the sick to pray for their benefactors every day.