Spitalkirche, Late Gothic church in Mödling, Austria

Spitalkirche is a late Gothic Roman Catholic single-nave hall church built from 1443 to 1453, named for the citizens' hospital in the adjoining building to the west. Its roof truss dates from 1685, and a regothicisation carried out between 1879 and 1882 gave it its present form. The window rosette shows a portrait of the then mayor Josef Schöffel, and the neo-Gothic carved altar from the Gröden Valley, installed in 1882, has Mary as Queen in the centre, flanked by St Martin and St Giles with the doe.

Construction of the church took place between 1443 and 1453, positioned directly next to a medieval hospital to serve its patients and staff. This arrangement reflected how religious spaces were designed to support healthcare facilities during the late medieval period.

The name comes from the Bürgerspital, an almshouse and home for the poor and elderly in the building adjoining to the west, not a hospital in the modern sense. The church was first dedicated to St Catherine and is now dedicated to St Giles, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, whose feast day is 1 September. Two epitaphs from around 1600, for councillor Franz Gueth (died 1583) and the wagner Andre Reisner, recall the period when Mödling's inhabitants were almost all Protestant.

The church stands in Mödling's old town, next to the building that once housed the citizens' hospital. Look for the carved head under the southern roof edge, long sought by visitors as the "Teufelskopf" and also read as Moses. The epitaphs of councillor Franz Gueth (died 1583) and wagner Andre Reisner are inside; the gravestone of pastor Stephan Vinndorfer (died around 1500) is on the south outer wall.

The oldest bell in Modling, cast by Joachim Gross in 1683 during the Turkish siege, still hangs in the tower and rings on special occasions. This bell has sounded for over 300 years, connecting present-day visitors to a turbulent chapter in the town's past.