Klarissenkloster Hall in Tirol

The Klarissenkloster in Hall in Tirol once stood where the psychiatric hospital now stands in Thurnfeldgasse. It began in the 17th century when the Clarisses bought a large chapel dedicated to plague patrons and an adjoining house. The small house proved too small, so a new monastery building was completed in 1723 with a church, three altars and a crypt. The Hall monastery thrived, housing about ninety nuns at its peak. In 1759 the nuns acquired the Waldgries estate near Bolzano. But in 1782 Emperor Joseph II’s reforms forced the Clarisses out and their property was seized. Most stayed in Hall; the last Hall Clariss, Apollonia Mayr, died in Pradl in 1837. In 1802 the sisters’ remains were moved from the crypt to the south wall of the parish church, where a small plaque still marks the spot. After 1801 the monastery became a barracks, then in 1830 it was rebuilt as a psychiatric hospital. Only the south façade still shows traces of the original baroque structure. The parish church keeps the memory of the Clarisses alive through the plaque and the relocated graves.