Carlos Watzka:
ÔCharitable BrothersŐ in charge of hospitals in
early modern times: the hospital in Linz/Austria and its patients up to c.
1780.
The
article deals with the history of the Hospital of the Brothers of St. John of
God (in German: Barmherzige Brder;
official name Ordo Hospitalarius Sancti
Joannis a Deo) in the capital of Upper Austria, Linz, from its founding in 1757
up to around 1780. It primarily discusses the organizational development and
the patients of the institute. The orderŐs hospital already functioned as a
medical hospital for the treatment of acute diseases: its aim was the quick restoration
of its inmatesŐ health and it offered treatment by medical experts, among them
academically trained physicians. The patients were still accommodated in a
largely undifferentiated manner, as most of them stayed in a large common hall.
This was obviously the result of the organizationŐs limited space: it had about
12 beds at the beginning, and about 20 around 1780. Nevertheless, the number of
patients treated there amounted to almost 1 % of the entire male population of
Upper Austria, even in the first decade of its existence. In early modern times,
only men were admitted to this hospital and their average age was about 30
years. As far as their social status is concerned, most of them (according to a
representative admissions sample from 1757-1767) were craftsmen (more than two
thirds), laborers and servants. This shows that the organization catered for a
wide social stratum and certainly does not present itself as a poorhouse. The average
annual mortality was 10 to 13 %, which is comparable to that of other hospitals
of the order in 18th century Austria. Most of the patients admitted
suffered from ÔfeverŐ or internal diseases and were discharged as cured after
only a few weeks.
> zurck zur homepage
> zurck zum Inhalt des Bandes