VIRUS Band 9, pp. 115-125, 2020/08/04
In the middle of the 19th century the Ruhr area has started to develop from a rurallandscape to an industrial region. Due to massive immigration into the district healthservice became more and more insufficient, especially for ill and sick workers who werethe majority of patients in the new hospitals. However, municipal authorities had not thefunds to establish enough hospitals so that catholic and protestant parishes started tobuild their own modern hospitals. In catholic communities the parish priest was thedriving force before and during the establishment of the hospitals. Although catholichospitals had different ways of funding it was difficult to achieve secured finances in thistime. The nursing was done by catholic sisters of religious orders and congregations whoworked for free, hoping for salvation. In the daily life of the hospitals the nurses had tocooperate with the doctors.
Keywords: denominational hospitals, Ruhr area, German Empire, 19 century, catholic milieu
