[A place for the dying? The house for incurables in the old imperial city of Regensburg].
In 1821, a "House for Incurables" was established on the baths' island of the St.-Catharine's-Hospital in Regensburg. The patient registers and other administrative sources show that many incurables or terminally ill people were hospitalized and medically assisted there until their death. The choice of the persons who were to be admitted generated substantial conflict between representatives of spiritual and medical welfare. The institution was not only a house for the terminally ill. Some very old patients and patients with curable diseases also received care. Inspite of the order to care for patients with love and patience and inspite of precise hospital regulations, rooms, food, nursing and care were of poor quality and, at least occasionally, apart from the idea of care and assistance also the concept of custody seems to have been operating. In the middle of the 19th century, the owner of the building, the council of St.-Catharine's-Hospital, demanded its evacuation. An adequate substitute could neither be built nor found. Finally, it moved into a noble looking baroque suburbian villa, which had been used as a restaurant. The new building left much to be desired. In the end, the institution was changed into an almshouse for the elderly.
Langrieger
Hannes
H
Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. LANGRIEGER@aol.com
D000368:Aged; D019022:Almshouses / Q000266:history*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000266:history*; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000266:history