Children's Hospital W.
The history of this abandoned hospital began pompously, and it could be celebrated as a great sociopolitical success.
Because there was a high infant and child mortality rate at the beginning of the 20th century, cities and communities feared a rapid decline in the number of infants. At the time, the local municipal representatives decided to build Prussia's first municipally run infant and children's hospital. The district , to which the town belonged at the time, contributed to the financing.
The hospital was designed by the municipal architect in 1909.
He designed a multi-part building ensemble. Initially, up to forty infants aged up to two years could be treated here. In addition to a surgical department, there were areas where ENT and skin diseases were treated. The Infant and Children's Hospital was inaugurated on July 8, 1911, with the participation of renowned physicians from all over Europe and America. They were in Berlin at the time for a congress.
In addition to modern medical facilities, this hospital even had its own cowshed. It housed 36 cows and had its own dairy. For doctors as well as nurses in training, the municipality had an auditorium built. A specially built park provided fresh air in the hospital area. At last count, the hospital had about one hundred beds.
In 1997, the then Senate decided to close the hospital for cost reasons and because the population in the eastern part of the city was declining at the time, with no plan for a subsequent use of the property. Since then, the buildings have stood empty.
Visited: March 29, 2014
Location: Undisclosed, Germany
Status: Abandoned
