Hüfferstiftung

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Front view with the main entrance of the Hüfferstiftung

The Hüfferstiftung is a social, charitable foundation established in the Westphalian city ​​of Münster in 1893 and at the same time the usual name for the building erected for the foundation. The building served as a sanatorium for the treatment and healing of orthopedic patients for over 80 years . Since the clinic was moved, the building has housed several facilities of the Westphalian Wilhelms University and the Münster University of Applied Sciences , including the rectorate of the University of Applied Sciences. A comprehensive renovation of the foundation building is currently underway.

building

Before the Hüfferstiftung was built, the sanatorium for orthopedic ailments was located at Bergstrasse 65 in Münster. This first building was tentatively rented for a facility on April 1, 1889. At that time, the clinic was the first charitable sanatorium in the field of orthopedic diseases in Germany. In the first five years, around 800 patients were treated here and more than 50% cured. While the rooms were initially designed for around 15 to 18 patients, the capacity could be increased to up to 50 patients with additions. Nevertheless, the capacities were far from sufficient, so that on October 25, 1898, Wilhelm Hüffer, managing director of the foundation and nephew of the foundation's founder, proposed a new building for the foundation building.

Preparations for this new building began in 1899 when a plot of land south of the palace garden was purchased. The cost of erecting the building, designed by the Munster architect Alexander Cazin , was put at 450,000 marks . The foundation stone for the new Hüfferstiftung took place on May 5th, 1902, the anniversary of the founder's death. 19 months later, on December 5, 1903, the new building was officially opened. It was furnished in a modern way for the conditions at the time, as it had modern medical instruments, lifts and spacious gardens. In total, the new clinic offered space for around 160 patients. An unusual architectural detail was the beaver-tail roof , which is rather untypical for northern and western Germany .

Even after the transfer of the foundation to the city of Münster in 1922 and the merger with the surgical clinic of the Münster University Hospital in 1938, the orthopedic clinic was still housed in this building, albeit supplemented by other departments and the necessary extensions. Only after the completion of the new central clinic in 1983 did the clinic leave the Hüfferstiftung building and move into the new clinic in 1984. At the same time, the facilities of the Münster universities were relocated to the now vacant Hüfferstiftung, including the rectorate of the Münster University of Applied Sciences, the examination office of the economics faculty of the Westphalian Wilhelms University and the Hüfferstift cafeteria .

The Hüfferstiftung building has been being renovated since 2018 to become part of a new campus for the universities. The departments of the University of Applied Sciences previously housed in the Hüfferstiftung have already been temporarily relocated to other locations.

Foundation, endowment

The actual foundation goes back to Wilhelm Hüffer , the third son of the Mayor of Münster, Johann Hermann Hüffer . Having achieved considerable prosperity due to his business in France and America , he was involved in the restoration of valuable art treasures in Italy from the age of 50 , but did not forget his hometown Münster. After the success of the orthopedic sanatorium, which had been operating on an experimental basis since 1889, he set up his own foundation on November 13, 1893. The same can be read in the deed of foundation, § 1 of which reads:

"The founder is Wilhelm Hüffer and the purpose is to heal crippled ailments in Münster." 

A significant part of the establishment of the foundation and the corresponding sanatorium is obviously to be attributed to Wilhelm's brother Eduard, who reported in his own family newspaper "Julia" about an indirect request from a Temmink:

“In the autumn of 1888 a young man came to see me on behalf of Dr. To hand over a package to Temmink […]; I developed the same and, to my astonishment, found the plaster cast of a high grade clubfoot. The young man himself, who apparently now had two perfectly normal feet, told me that he had presented himself to Mr. Temmink three years ago to have his clubfoot healed; the same had told him that he could be cured, but that the costs would in any case exceed his means; he then embarked for Melbourne in Australia and succeeded in his work in earning so much that he could take on the monthly cure. " 

The aim of the foundation was the treatment of orthopedic diseases, especially of the lower class of the population. More than half of all treated patients belonged to this shift. For the treatment of these patients, 1.50 marks per day were charged in the case of the less well-off and one mark in the case of the poor upon presentation of a certificate of poverty . Wealthy patients paid 4 or 6 marks, depending on the class division.

In addition to the general provisions, the statutes of the foundation contained a special feature with Section 20: Should there be a change in the social legislation that provides for care for orthopedic patients, the foundation assets should be transferred to the city of Münster. With the Prussian decree on " Cripple Welfare " of May 6, 1920, this case should arise. From October 1, 1920, the state poor associations were obliged to care for the sick. In 1922, the previously independent foundation was transferred to the City of Münster, which was finally contractually agreed on June 6, 1925. At that time, the assets amounted to 1,194,313.45  Reichsmarks . Since then it has existed as a legally dependent foundation under the administration of the City of Münster. However, according to the statutes, her name remained.

Web links

Commons : Hüfferstiftung  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Bußmann: Architecture of the Modern Age. In: History of the City of Münster , Volume 3.Aschendorff, Münster 1994, p. 515.
  2. ↑ FH moves to alternative quarters. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Healing the Disabled - Internet project “Poverty, Need and Good Works” by the Münster City Archives
  4. ^ Family newspaper "Julia" No. 12 of December 1, 1895
  5. ↑ Peter Sendler: From the cripple sanatorium to the university hospital. The Hüffer Foundation in Münster in Westphalia. 1984, p. 104.

Coordinates: 51 ° 57 ′ 39 "  N , 7 ° 36 ′ 28.8"  E