Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder, Medical center and church building in Linz, Austria

Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder occupies the former Carmelite convent on Herrenstraße, whose convent building was begun in 1713 to plans by Johann Michael Prunner. South and east of the church stand the convent and hospital wings; in 1891 Rudigierstraße was cut through north of the church, giving the complex its corner layout and a single-storey pharmacy wing facing the new street.

The Brothers of Mercy received the Siechenhaus zu Straßfelden by imperial decree on 9 October 1756 and moved in on 1 July 1757. On 28 January 1787 Joseph II ordered the hospital transferred to the former Carmelite convent, whose church Johann Michael Prunner had built from 1713; operations began there on 28 October 1789, making it Linz's general hospital for male patients.

The church at the complex is dedicated to Saint Anne: the Passau bishop Joseph Dominikus von Lamberg consecrated the newly built chapel and cemetery in her honour on 19 July 1757. On Saint Anne's Day, 26 July 1757, the first patients were moved from the old infirmary into the new hospital in a procession through the city.

The site is open for visits during regular hours, though medical areas are typically restricted to those with legitimate reasons for being there. If you want to see the church or other public sections, ask ahead about which areas are accessible to visitors.

During World War I, the Bishop of Linz, Rudolf Hittmair, worked as a nurse at this hospital and caught typhus while caring for wounded soldiers. This personal sacrifice shows the role the place played during the war as a center for treating war injuries.