The church hospital and the municipal hospital in Germany from the Biedermeier period to the Weimar Republic

Abstract

Since the Middle Ages hospitals in Germany have mainly been religious institutions caring for a wide variety of patients. In the 18 th century hospitals of a new type, providing more narrow medical services, were founded by the secular authorities. A clearer distinction has now emerged between medicine and poor relief. Within the hospitals, acute cases were increasingly treated alone, and separate departments were set up for different categories of patient. At the beginning of the 20th century, hospitals were seen as specialized, fully engaged in research and teaching. Beside the municipal Allgemeines Krankenhaus the concentrated clinics of the universities were developed by the State. Since 1949 the planning of hospitals was the responsibility of the governments of the states of Bundesrepublik, the German Republic.