In the late 17th century, during the reign of Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun, the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, perhaps the greatest Austrian Baroque architect, designed a harmonious ensemble of 12 buildings in and around Salzburg. One of them was the Church of Our Immaculate Lady, also known as the Kollegienkirche due to its use by the Benedictine university in the city. (...)
In the late 17th century, during the reign of Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun, the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, perhaps the greatest Austrian Baroque architect, designed a harmonious ensemble of 12 buildings in and around Salzburg. One of them was the Church of Our Immaculate Lady, also known as the Kollegienkirche due to its use by the Benedictine university in the city. The apse of the church is marked by two enormous free-standing columns which are an iconographic reference to the pillars in front of the Temple of Solomon. The light originally streamed through the window of the apse from the south, alluding to the light of the Immaculate Conception, but this was blocked by a roof added later. Since its construction, despite subsequent repair attempts, water infiltration had stained the interior vaults and rotted the timber roof while air pollution affected the porous building stones and limestone sculptures.
