Christian'sches children's hospital: singer, birth helper, benefactor

His voice, his start-up capital was. You made it possible for Theobald Christ, that path that made him a well-respected, beyond the city boundaries well-known physician and obstetrician, a wealthy man and a major patron of the Frankfurt story. Him the first children's hospital in the city is due to, 175 years ago, it was opened in Ostend in today's Theobald-Christ-Strasse. At the same location, the Clementine children's hospital, which stands in the Tradition of the Christian's Foundation is working until today.

Matthias Trautsch

editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

in 1777, the Church of St. Catherine, visited Johann Theobald Christ was born in a pious family, the son of the Cantor of the municipal Gymnasium. As a biography, which recently appeared in the Frankfurter persons lexicon, he earned a degree necessary money, he recited, together with other students from simple families and spiritual songs, for example, in the case of funerals. "Because of his beautiful voice and his love of order he was in this singing group to the choir prefect", - stated in the reference, is expanded by the Frankfurter bürgerstiftung continue.

On the "birth of art" specialized

With the help of his savings and small scholarships, Christian began to study law in Marburg, but soon switched to medicine and specialized in the "birth of art". After the doctorate with a thesis on the ectopic pregnancy Christian returned to Frankfurt, where he settled in 1802 as a General practitioner and his practice quickly had success. He was an excellent obstetrician and almost 10,000 births have passed. For the training of midwives, he delivered lectures and gave hands-on courses. Christian is described as very friendly and fond of children. He himself, however, remained childless, his marriage ended in divorce. In a progressive back ill mark suffer, he had to rely on the wheelchair and could no longer leave his house.

In his will, a Christian in 1835, decreed that his estate and his fortune of 150,000 florins for the poor and sick children as well as for the opening of a pure child should become sick house uses. If possible, there should also arise a affiliated Maternity hospital for "poor woman people". In both houses, the denominational affiliation should play no role. With the management of the Foundation, he entrusted his friend and colleague, Salomon Friedrich Stiebel, should also be the first hospital doctor.

After more than 175 years, the Ostend company

Two years after the death Christs in the year 1841 began on the site between Hanauer landstraße and then the Whitsun pasture, the Area of present-day Zoos, the construction of the children's hospital; a further two years later it started operating. Through Endowments Institute in the following decades, the Birth and a branch in Sachsenhausen, furnished. After the Second world war, the Christian's Foundation teamed up with the Rothschild's Foundation.

The founder, Louise freifrau von Rothschild, had reasons similar approach to that of Christ in 1875, the Clementine girl's hospital at the Bornheimer Landwehr opened and it is to the memory of their young deceased daughter Clementine named. In the Second world war, both children were destroyed hospitals by air attacks. As a replacement, the foundations in Ostend, built on the site of Dr. Christian's children's hopitals a new clinic. Both of the founders Association, the idea that children are not small adults and should be treated, but age-appropriate according to your specific mental and physical needs, as it is on the website, in the meantime, the merger of foundations is.