Skip to main content
Service phase: Beta

This is a new service. Help us improve it and give your feedback (opens in new tab).

Back to search results

Hospital

German Hospital

Last updated .

Important information

Information about this hospital might be outdated.

Details

Address
Ritson Road, London, E8 1DF
Previous Locations
Also at Dalstone Lane, E8
Foundation Year
1845
Status
Closed (since 1987)

Administrative Authorities

Regional Board (1948-1974)
North East Metropolitan
Management Committee (1948-1974)
Hackney Group
Regional Authority (1974-1982)
North East Thames
Regional Authority (Post-1982)
North East Thames
District Authority (1974-1982)
City and Hackney (Teaching)
District Authority (Post-1982)
City and Hackney
Pre-1974 County
Middlesex/London
Post-1974 County
Greater London
Post-1996 County
Not applicable

Status

Pre-1948
Voluntary
Post-1948
NHS

Type

Pre-1948
General
Pre-1948 information
GEN: 1845 - 1948 Originally specifically for poor German-speaking people.
Post-1948
Acute, Mental
Post-1948 information
AC: 1948 - 1974.
MNT: 1974 - 1987

Other information

Kaiser Wilhelm Stiftung (German Orphanage). Convalescent homes in Dalston, London, and in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Associated Hospitals: Convalescent Home, Dalston Lane 1883 - 1908. Convalescent Home, Hitchin, Herefordshire 1908 - 1948. The German Hospital For the last forty years newcomers to Dalston have been surprised to learn that there is a hospital building in their midst which is known as the 'German'. Yet for the first 100 years of its existence there was no such surprise. Originally founded 'for the reception of all poor Germans and others speaking the German Language', the German Hospital also cared for the local English-speaking population in the case of emergencies. It was supported by subscriptions and donations, many from Germany or the German community in England, and run by a dedicated band of German nursing sisters and doctors. And when, in 1948 the Voluntary Hospital became part of the NHS, first as a general hospital and more recently as a psychiatric hospital, the 'German' continued to enjoy both in professional circles and among the general public the highest reputation for skilled staff and hospital care. In the 1840s it is estimated that some 30,000 Germans were living in England, making up by far the largest immigrant community. Many of them lived and worked in poor conditions in the East End of London, where poverty and the language barrier left them little chance to make use of the limited medical resources available at that time. The work of a German pastor and a doctor to establish a hospital for 'poor German Sick' was taken up by the Prussian Ambassador, the Chevalier Bunsen, who succeeded in enlisting the support of the rich and influential in Germany and England, including both Royal Houses, so ensuring that the hospital was built. On 15 October 1845 the German Hospital opened, with just 12 beds. An early outstanding feature of the hospital was the nursing care provided by the Protestant Deaconesses from the Kaiserswerth Institute near Wessendorf. It was their example at the German which prompted Florence Nightingale to visit the hospital on two occasions and then to enrol for training at the Institute in Germany in 1851. New hospital buildings, constructed according to the highest standards in hospital design, were opened in 1864 and provded to be invaluable in the epidemics which swept London in the 1860s and 1870s. The German Royal family took a keen interest in the hospital, as did the von Schroder family who were so often to provide funds for the hospital over the years. During the First World War the German Staff remained at the Hospital, despite strong anti-German feelings in the country and a shortage of nurses and doctors in Germany. The period between the wars was one of great improvements and extensions to the buildings, the most important of which was the opening of the new hospital wing in 1936, with its maternity and children's wards, and the well-known and innovatory roof-garden for convalescents, providing a panoramic view of the entire city as far south as Crystal Palace. In May 1940 the staff of the German Hospital were interned on the Isle of Man and English staff assumed the running of the hospital, which now became German in name only. It was taken into the National Health Service in 1948, and in 1974 became part of the newly-formed Ciry of Hackney Health District. The teaching hospital for this District is St Bartholomew's Hospital, which is why the archives of the German are now held at Bart's. For its last 13 years the German Hospital cared for psychiatric patients and psychogeriatric (the elderly metally confused). During this time it continued to develop its work, such as its provision of emergency night shelter facilities for elderly confused people from the community. However, it closed in 1987 as the services it offered were transferred to the new Homerton Hospital. Now in the 1990s the German Hospital is being rejuvenated. Most of the buildings are being turned into housing with the help of the New Islington and Hackney Housing Association, while the old administration block at the centre of the hospital is being developed by the MacIntyre Care Charitable Trust into a centre to provide vocational training and opportunities to people with learning disabilities. Catering, weaving, printing and horticulture will all be taught, and the centre will also provide a range of services for the community, and incorporate a small 'museum' telling the story of the German Hospital.

Record locations

  • London Metropolitan Archives

    Record types

    Administrative
    1898 - 1947
    General
    1898 - 1947

    Finding aids

    Finding aids
    Brief guide (BG)
    Location
    At Repository (AR)
    Details
    Brief Guide: Hospital and Charity Annual Reports.
    Annual Reports - Annual Report collection SC/PPS/093/19,82

  • St Bartholomew's Hospital Archives and Museum

    Record types

    Administrative
    1802 - 1971
    General
    1843 - 1970
    Finance
    1845 - 1971
    Estates
    1802 - 1971
    Nursing
    1947 - 1948
    Staff
    1845 - 1955
    Admission
    1946 - 1967
    Clinical
    1931 - 1959
    Ephemera
    1845 - 1970
    Pictorial
    1845 - 1970

    Finding aids

    Finding aids
    Catalogue, Card index, Computerised
    Location
    At Repository (AR), National Register of Archives (NRA)
    Details
    Computer Database: Photographs entered on database.

  • Wellcome Library

    Record types

    Administrative
    1845 - 1940
    Clinical
    1890 - 1960
    Other
    1845 - 1940

    Finding aids

    Finding aids
    Catalogue, Computerised
    Location
    At Repository (AR)
    Papers of Frederick Parkes Weber include his case notes of patients at the German Hospital, inc clinical photographs 1890s-1900s, a copy of the hospital Pharmacopaeia 1845 and a file on the questions about staff and hospital name arising with the outbreak of the Second World War