From a small Monastery to a Clinic
The consecration and opening of the "Maria-Hilf"- Hospital on the 2nd February 1896 can be traced back to the initiative of Father Peter van Endert. The then clergy man of the parish of St. Laurentius in Bergisch Gladbach left his considerable fortune to the parish with the instruction to build a hospital which should be taken care of by catholic nuns. His successor, Father Ludwig Fußbahn, persistently pursued his predecessors last will, and in the summer of 1894 the foundations of Marien-Krankenhaus were laid.
The hospital was under direction of Dr. Carl Rhode and had room for at first 60 beds, and since 1911 120 beds.
525 patients were treated in 1905. The strict hospital rules were according to the customs of that time. The costs for people who had to pay for themselves were 1,60 Mk., for those under poor-relief 1,20 Mk. Today, about 12.000 patients get annually treated in Marien-Krankenhaus, the costs are about 200 € per patient.
After the founding of a nursing school in 1949 Maria Hilf-Krankenhaus became a contractual hospital in 1952. After several expansions and reconstructions the foundations for the current multi-story building were laid on December 1, 1973. With the opening in 1976 the hospital was named "Marien-Krankenhaus".
Within the scope of a new project, furthered by the state of NRW, the construction of a geriatric rehab facility (Reha-Zentrum Reuterstrasse) began on May 3rd, 1995 and was consecrated in a ceremony on March 3rd, 1997.
- Hospital "Maria-Hilf"
- Dr. Carl Rhode
