Hospital of the Naemi-Wilke foundation with auxiliary buildings

Historical Monuments

Description

The exact location of the original three apartment and the two low rise buildings that originally made up the hospital is unknown. The oldest part that has survived to this day is the "Clementine House" (Ger. "Clementinenheim"), which now serves as the head of the administration.

The main building of the hospital is a two-story plastered building on the plan of three interconnected cuboids, inscribed in an obtuse angle. The central, three-story part where the main entrance is located, was closed with a gable roof. An elevated, elegant driveway was placed right in front of the building. There is an inscription "Naemi-Wilke-Stift" above the entrance portal. Next to the west wing there is a house of clementines with segmented arched windows and a gable roof. On the side of the courtyard there are utility buildings (boiler room, laundry room and chapel), connected with each other by low-wing buildings. The roofs are lowered, and the gables are curved. Above the entrance to the chapel there is an inscription "I know that my Savior lives" (Ger. "Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt").

Historical background

In 1878, hatmaker J.F. Wilke established a foundation in memory of his young deceased daughter Naemi. A year later, a kindergarten and a children's hospital with 14 beds were added. In 1884, the mother house of deacons was established, four years later it was converted to Evangelical Lutheran. In 1898, an outbuilding was opened to work for the disabled. The hospital, expanded in 1903, served as a field hospital during World War I. Due to the constantly increasing number of patients, the building was enlarged in 1927-28 by the western and eastern wings.

"As part of the T4 action, focusing on the elimination of “life not worth living" (..) in May 1940, work for the disabled was stopped (..), and the children and youth who worked there murdered. In 2006, memorial stones were erected for commemorating this crime*".

From the end of World War II until 1995, the facility was mainly used to care for the elderly. In 1992, a private foundation took over the city hospital and expanded the range of its services. From 2000, i.e., the moment of general renovation and expansion, new departments and wings were created, including a building with bedrooms (2007) and another wing (2012).

*Quote from the website: https://www.naemi-wilke-stift.de/pl/fundacja/historia.html