In Honour of the Plague Healer
Karlskirche
The Karlskirche is one of Vienna’s greatest buildings and the best examples of the Austrian Baroque. It was inaugurated in 1713, one year after the end of the latest plague epidemic and was dedicated to the namesake patron of emperor Charles VI, Saint Charles Borromeo, who was also believed to be a healer of plague sufferers. The building was designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who managed to create a melange of diverse elements, such as the ancient Greek visual idiom, evident in the central façade, the Roman influence in the neighbouring two columns, which were modelled after Trajan's Column, and the grandeur of the Italian baroque with an impressive dome rising above a high drum. The church is considered to be among the finest works of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who unfortunately didn’t have the chance to see it completed during his life. It was his son Joseph Emanuel who finished the construction in 1737.
As seen on
Vienna City Tour: Waltzing Through Memory