Prestenhaus

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A Prestenhaus (Middle High German presten , deficiency, affliction, Gebresten ') was a facility in the Middle Ages and the early modern period to accommodate people with protracted, incurable diseases or psychological complaints. There were people who spent several years, sometimes almost half of their lives, in such an institution. Priest houses were not only places of care, but also places of custody, upbringing and discipline.

The priest houses in the city of St. Gallen

In St. Gallen there were two different priest houses, the 'upper' and the 'lower' priest house. These two facilities were built about 200 years apart and primarily served to relieve the Heiliggeist Hospital St. Gallen.

The lower prestenhaus

The lower priest house was the original institution. It opened in 1575 and was located outside the city walls. It is still unclear whether it was founded as a result of the plague in the second half of the 16th century. City citizens with protracted or incurable illnesses were accommodated in this facility, but also patients with particularly repulsive illnesses (but not lepers , these were treated in the infirmary) and the mentally ill were admitted there. In other words, all those citizens who, due to the severity of their suffering, could not be admitted to the Heiliggeist Hospital St. Gallen.

The upper priest house

The upper priest house was founded in the last quarter of the 18th century due to a lack of space in the lower one. This facility was originally an infirmary , which could be converted as a result of the decline in leprosy in the 17th and early 18th centuries. In the upper Prestenhaus mostly female people with minor ailments and elderly people were admitted. The mentally ill were not accommodated there.

Closure of the institution in the 19th century

The construction of a new citizens' hospital in 1845, which offered sufficient capacity, as well as the establishment of an institution for the mentally ill in 1816, made the two priest houses superfluous. As a result, the lower Prestenhaus was demolished in 1856 and the upper one was lifted in 1875 and also demolished in the following years.

Professions related to the Prestenhaus

Treasurer

The priest administrator was responsible for the administration, such as cash management and invoice filing, for income and expenses. He was also a member of the small council of the city of St. Gallen and was elected for a five-year term.

Prestenwart

The priest warden was the most important reference person to the people living in the priest house and lived in the facility itself. This closeness to the inmates was an important reason why mentally ill people, who were often suicidal, were moved from the Heiliggeist Hospital to the priest house. In contrast to the priest administrator, the office of priest warden was not limited in time, so the latter often held his post for life. His job consisted in the care and care of the inmates, but he could also take punitive measures such as B. Order food deprivation if an inmate is guilty of something.

literature

• Stefan Sonderegger , Bernhard Wartmann: From Heiliggeist Hospital to Citizens Hospital : St. Gallen 1995, ISBN 3-907928-00-8 , pp. 46–50.
• Marcel Mayer: Those in need and delinquents. The prison inmates of the city of St. Gallen 1750-1798 . Dissertation from the University of Basel, St. Gallen 1987 (St. Galler Kultur und Geschichte 17), pp. 51–55.
• Monika Mähr u. a .: Time for medicine !. Insights into the history of medicine in St. Gallen . Wattwil 2011 (Neujahrsblatt / Historischer Verein des Kantons St. Gallen 151), pp. 63–65.