Clara Kopp
Clara Kopp , also Klara Kopp , (born April 8, 1805 in Castrop , † January 24, 1883 in Essen ) was the founder of the order of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Elisabeth in Essen. The order founded the first Essen hospital in 1844, the Elisabeth Hospital, which is still in operation today .
Life
Clara Kopp was the eighth of nine children and was baptized with the name Elisabeth . Her father was the farmer Matthias Kopp, her mother was Elisabeth Henseler.
Clara Kopp suffered an eye disease in 1867 that led to almost complete blindness. So she passed her old age in passive piety. In 1883 she was buried in the Segeroth cemetery.
Monastery entry
She entered on January 31, 1832 in the Beginenkonvent Im Kettwich , which was one of six Beginenkonventen in the city. On this day the convent received official church permission to care for the sick. The former convents Im Turm and Im Zwölfling were added in 1838 and, together with the former convent Im Kettwich , whose origins go back to the 13th century, were transformed into the Capuchin monastery in Essen . All the convents were united by pious women who were dedicated to charitable and social causes. In 1840 Clara Kopp was elected superior by the conventual women. At that time she cared for the sick in the city and was also active in pastoral and social charities.
Founding of the order
On August 18, 1843, Clara Kopp received the approval from church and state authorities to accept the Order of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Elizabeth to found and set up a hospital. That corresponded to their ideas at the time. After founding the first hospital in Essen, the Elisabeth Hospital , and extensive renovation work on the partly dilapidated monastery buildings, Clara Klopp started operations on January 23, 1844 with her initially six sisters. At the beginning, they treated 35 people in need of care.
Commemoration
In 2005, on the 200th birthday of Clara Kopp, in the Essen district of Huttrop , the street on the hospital grounds was named Klara-Kopp-Weg.
literature
- Sisters of the Cooperative (Ed.): The Cooperative of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Elisabeth zu Essen, Verlag F. Schmitt, Siegburg, 1957
Footnotes
- ↑ The other five convents were: the convent in the tower, the convent in the Zwölfling, the convent at the Dunkhaus, the convent at the New Hagen, the convent in the old Hagen
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kopp, Clara |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kopp, Klara; Elisabeth (baptismal name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German founder of the order |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 8, 1805 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Castrop |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 24, 1883 |
| Place of death | eat |