Burger Hospital and wine shopThe Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist (Citizens' Hospital of the Holy Spirit) is a

Stiftung A stiftung () (properly ''Stiftung'', pl. ''Stiftungen'') is an institution/foundation which, with the aid of a property, pursues a purpose determined by the founder. A ''stiftung foundation'' exists to give effect to the stated, non-commercial wi ...

(foundation) in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

. It operates several senior citizens' homes and a geriatric rehabilitation clinic. The economic foundation of the

is based on its extensive properties and winery, which today is one of the oldest and largest German vineyards. A wine tavern and restaurant in Würzburg's old town, which offers wines from the Bürgerspital and Franconian regions, is also part of the establishment.

History

Johannes von Steren (about 1270-1329), a Würzburg patrician of ministerial origin, and his wife Mergardis transferred their property at Semmelstraße 2 to the town to take care of poor and sick people around 1316, thereby establishing the "Neues Spital" "Citizens' Hospital of the Holy Spirit". Von Steren decreed that the foundation in the royal residence in Würzburg should not be passed on by the influential church, but by the mayor, a decision which "placed the family somewhat at a standstill" and sign of the then-emerging civil society. In a document dated June 23, 1319, Prince-Archbishop Gottfried III of Hohenlohe authorized the partial exhortation of the "Neue Spital" and its administration by three civic carers. In 1320/1321 the papal confirmation of the establishment of the foundation by Pope John XXII took place. There were later additional contributions by Würzburg citizens, the largest by the brothers Teufel in the year 1340. The representation of the Holy Spirit as a pigeon on the coat of arms, and the obligation to serve the Holy Spirit and the sick, goes back to the Order of the Brothers of the Order of the Holy Spirit in Rome. Wealthy citizens could also enjoy a safe retirement at the hospital. The building complex consists of a hospital building, an industrial estate, and a church, which surround a courtyard. The courtyard with its arcades was built according to plans by Würzburg master builder Andreas Müller, a companion of Balthasar Neumann. In the bomb attack on Würzburg on March 16, 1945, the

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

buildings burned down to the ground walls. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

is the only building that remains from the founding era. Only the outer walls remained from the so-called "red building" from the year 1717/18. The foundation is financed by the operations of its properties. These properties include the Weingut Bürgerspital, commercial real estate, 650 building leaseholds, and more than 200 apartments.Bürgerspital Würzburg: Wine List 2008, p. 27.

References

{{Coord missing, Bavaria Hospitals in Germany 1316 establishments in Europe Medical and health organisations based in Bavaria