[Hospitals in Prague from the high Middle Ages to the Enlightenment (1135-1800)].

Based on hitherto unknown layouts and documents from the Prague archives, this paper reviews the evolution of the health care system in the capital of Bohemia. From the high Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, the town's history as well as changing political and religious tendencies provide a unique background for the development of different types of institutions for the care of the poor and sick. The first charitable foundations of the sovereigns and the archbishops were soon followed by the semi-monasterial infirmaries of the Hospitallers. Leprosoria and other shelters for the contagious deserve special attention. After the counter-reformation, the newly built hospitals of orders like the Brothers of Saint John of God and the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth played an important role. From the architectural point of view, the baroque hospitals built by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer belong to the most impressive examples of hospital architecture in Europe. Finally, the medical reforms of Emperor Joseph II. led to a series of completely new institutions, which can be regarded as the beginning of modern medicine im Bohemia. It was especially intended to describe exactly the site and the architectonic appearance of the preserved buildings. Thus, the medical historian can contribute to the care and preservation of these medical monuments.