The Hôpital civil de Strasbourg is one of the oldest medical establishments in France. Today it is a major component of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg, a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

that is the biggest employer in Alsace, with over 11,000 employees, ranking fourth in France in terms of quality.

History

Chapelle Saint-Erhard-Hôpital Civil de Strasbourg

Strasbourg, place de l'Hôpital ancienne pharmacie 1537

Lucarnes rampantes Hôpital Civil Strasbourg

The first hospital

According to the 1143 charter of Bishop , preserved in the municipal archives of the city of Strasbourg, the hospital was founded in the year 1119, although another source refers to a hospital in 1105. The first building was located close to the cathedral, in the street that now bears its name (rue du vieil hôpital). A religious brotherhood, probably Augustinian, took care of the sick and destitute. Being a religious establishment, with a mission to care for the needy, the hospital turned nobody away. The

Great Interregnum In the Holy Roman Empire, the Great Interregnum (so-called to distinguish it from the shorter period between 924 and 962) was a period of time following the death of Frederick II where the succession of the Holy Roman Empire was contested and fough ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, from 1254 to 1273, was a period of great instability in Alsace. The hospital gave asylum to a large influx of refugees from the countryside, where feuding lords burnt a number of villages.

The second hospital

During the 14th century, the population of Strasbourg was decimated by famine and by the plague. It was decided to move the hospital outside of the city walls. A new hospital was constructed just outside the city gate that became known as the "Porte de l'Hôpital". The hospital was devastated by fire on 6 November 1716, apparently started by a washerwoman with a candle. It was largely rebuilt between 1717 and 1725.

The third hospital

Two new buildings were opened in the hospital grounds in 2008, which together are known as the "Nouvel Hôpital civil", covering 90,000 square metres. The inauguration, in the presence of the French Nicolas Sarkozy, took place on 6 January 2009. The new blocks include 715 beds. The equipment includes a

Da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on h ...

robotic surgical system.

The Porte de l'hôpital

The Strasbourg city walls of 1340 included seven gates. Of these only one remains, the Porte de l'hôpital or Spitaltor, including a 14th-century external fresco. This city gate is located at the entrance of the old hospital, next to the Erhard Chapel. It was classified a monument historique in 1929.

Chapelle Erhard

The Protestant Chapel at the hospital entrance, dedicated to St Erhard, was built in 1428.

The wine cellars

The wine cellars, which date from 1395, are a tourist attraction in their own right. Over the centuries, many patients paid for their care by leaving parcels of land that have grown to constitute a vast area of vineyards. The 1716 fire that destroyed most of the hospital, spared the wine cellars. The cellars produce some 150,000 bottles a year of Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Riesling and Pinot Gris. The historic cellar is renowned for the quality of its wines but does no advertising and reinvests all its profits in the purchase of medical equipment. In the 18th century, the Hospital of Strasbourg was the largest Domaine in Alsace, making and selling wine as a side business. Patients were given two litres of wine a day. One of the barrels contains what is reputed to be the oldest wine on earth, dating from 1472.

People associated with the hospital

* Adolph Kussmaul (1822–1902), doctor * Bernhard Naunyn (1839–1925), internist * Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (1845–1922), pioneer of tropical medicine,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in 1907 * Otto Wilhelm Madelung (1846–1926), doctor * Joseph von Mering (1849–1908), physician *

Albrecht Kossel Ludwig Karl Martin Leonhard Albrecht Kossel (; 16 September 1853 – 5 July 1927) was a German biochemist and pioneer in the study of genetics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1910 for his work in determining the ch ...

(1853–1927), doctor,

in 1910 *

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure ...

(1854–1915), doctor,

in 1908 *

Oskar Minkowski Oskar Minkowski (; 13 January 1858 – 18 July 1931) was a German physician and physiologist who held a professorship at the University of Breslau and is most famous for his research on diabetes. He was the brother of the mathematician Hermann M ...

(1858–1931), doctor * Otto Loewi (1873–1961), doctor,

in 1936 * René Leriche (1879–1955), surgeon *

Otto Fritz Meyerhof Otto Fritz Meyerhof (; April 12, 1884 – October 6, 1951) was a German physician and biochemist who won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Biography Otto Fritz Meyerhof was born in Hannover, at Theaterplatz 16A (now:Rathenaustra ...

(1884–1951), doctor,

in 1922 * Jacques Marescaux (1948–), head of digestive surgery department

References

Literature

*Recht, Roland; Foessel, Georges; Klein, Jean-Pierre: ''Connaître Strasbourg'', 1988, , pages 187–189

External links

The University Hospitals of Strasbourg

''This article incorporates text translated from the French Wikipedia article on the University hospitals of Strasbourg as of 13 November 2013''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopital civil, Strasbourg Infrastructure completed in 1725 Hospital buildings completed in the 18th century Teaching hospitals in France Hospital buildings completed in 2008 1110s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1119 establishments in Europe Monuments historiques of Strasbourg Hospitals established in the 12th century