Franciscan Closter, Salzburg, Medieval monastery in Altstadt, Salzburg, Austria.
The Franciscan Cloister stands on Franziskanergasse in Salzburg's old town, with the Franciscan Church as its centrepiece. The monastery buildings were raised by one storey under Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, and a connecting passage was built across the street. The church interior was baroquised in stages between 1587 and the 18th century, giving the complex its present form.
In 1583 Archbishop Johann Jakob von Kuen-Belasy called Franciscans from the Upper German (Strasbourg) province to Salzburg to counter Protestantism, on the advice of auxiliary bishop Georg von Kuenburg. They moved into the recently dissolved Benedictine convent of the Petersfrauen on 7 November. Under Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau the church was first baroquified (1587–1612), the convent raised by a storey, and a garden and a passage across the street built; in 1635 the former parish church became the convent church.
The high altar features a Late Gothic Madonna statue by Michael Pacher of Tyrol, representing the artistic heritage within this working monastery. Visitors can see these works in their original religious setting, where they remain part of daily worship and contemplation.
The monastery lies on Franziskanergasse in Salzburg's old town, with the church entered from the street; the convent buildings themselves are not open to visitors. The church is a working place of worship, so visits are fitted around services. Since 2003 the Metzler organ has been used for regular organ concerts there.
The monastery was the first in Salzburg to be dissolved after the 1938 Anschluss: the Gestapo moved into the convent buildings and used parts of them as a prison, while the church stayed open and was served by brothers living in the city. From 1945 the American occupation forces used the building, and the Rot-weiß-rot radio station was installed there; the ORF regional studio remained until 1973.
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