The building was comprehensively renovated in 2002/03 and is shown to its best advantage today. The St Karl almshouse and chapel were built in 1721 in the upper part of Hospental village. The chapel was consecrated six years later. It features ceiling paintings, along with stonemasonry in local soapstone on the southern windows.
The inscription on the chapel informs visitors of its geographically specific location: “The path divides here, o Friend, where are you going? Are you bound for eternal Rome down south? Away to holy Cologne, the German Rhine, to the west far into Franconia?”
Almshouse: this is a house in which the priest lived and/or which also offered asylum to people in need.
The two buildings were built by valley master builder Bartholomäus Schmid at his own expense. Today, the St Karl Foundation owns the almshouse and chapel.
