Interior view
by FISCHER VON ERLACH, Johann Bernhard, Photo
The Karlskirche (St Charles Church) was commissioned by Emperor Charles VI in thanks for answered prayer after the 1713 Black Plague in Vienna. The construction on the church began in 1715. The Baroque master Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach did the original work from 1716 to 1722. After his death in 1723, his son took over and saw the project through to completion in 1737. Johann Michael Rottmayr painted many of the frescoes inside the church from 1725 to 1730.
The interior of the church is much more conventional than the exterior, with High Baroque decoration. The vault frescoes depict St Charles Borromeo begging the Holy Trinity to end the plague in the Vienna.