Siechenhaus (Burgdorf)

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The infirmary and in the background the country house “Sommerhaus”
The Bartholomew Chapel and behind it the infirmary

The infirmary in Burgdorf in the canton of Bern is a former, late medieval leprosarium and is the only one in Switzerland that has not changed in its basic form. It served as a nursing home for lepers until the 17th century .

location

Originally the infirmary was on the Landstrasse in the Aargau and Lucerne, which ran between the chapel and the hospital building. The isolated location outside the city, across the Emme, resulted from the risk of infection from leprosy . In 1179, however , the Third Lateran Council allowed lepers to build their own churches and cemeteries. In addition to the Bartholomäus chapel, the leprosarium has a cemetery that has not yet been archaeologically explored.

The "infirm" were granted the right to take alms and bridge tolls, so the infirmary could be found in many cities on the main roads and near bridges, such as the infirmary (Waldau) on the same street in Bern.

history

In 1316 an infirmary was first mentioned in Burgdorfer written sources. The chapel is documented in 1446, and the original predecessor building of the still existing infirmary was probably in a similar place from 1506 to 1508. After the leprosy epidemic died out, the infirmary housed around ten inmates, mostly women, and a cook in the 17th to 18th centuries. The supervision and administration was incumbent on the Infirmary. The last inmate moved from the infirmary to the hospital in 1798, and the service was also canceled. After that, the interior fittings were completely gutted out of fear of contamination and from then on served as storage space for commercial operations. In 1925 the Burgdorf civic community bought the house with the chapel and placed both under monument protection.

The chapel

On August 6, 1446, the foreman Heinrich Fritag settled with the council about the new building " the chapels because of the sick ... ". On August 22nd, Auxiliary Bishop Johannes von Konstanz consecrated the altar and chapel. She was dedicated to St. Bartholomäus, St. Magdalena, Barbara, Verena and St. Consecrated to Oswald. The service was probably carried out by the hospital chaplain, who also had to look after the Heimiswil church. After the Reformation, the chapel was preserved and the service continued, as in Bern. The schoolmaster of the municipal Latin school, mentioned as early as 1300, also looked after the infirmary and the Heimiswil church from the Reformation to the appointment of a commissioner (1575).

In 1854 Hans Schnell acquired the vacant “Infirmary Milk” from the neighboring summer house in order to keep it. It served as a device magazine until 1884. Then again until 1930 as a place of worship for the newly established Christian Catholic community. After several attempts, the Burgdorf architect Ernst Bechstein (1889–1960) in 1955, with the help of Michael Stettler as an expert, had the chapel cleared of the walls and roof structure. The roof and the rebuilt turret were re-covered and the slat ceiling was drawn in as a copy of the old one. With the new equipment, the chapel could be used again for Protestant worship.

The infirmary

In the early 16th century (1506/08, an exact date of origin is not certain) the late Gothic square building with a rectangular floor plan of 21 × 14.4 meters was built. The mighty, slightly bent and strongly protruding hip roof forms the main accentuation of the building. More than 14 meters long connecting beams, struts and chair pillars form the original roof structure. The entrance gate is on the southern longitudinal facade of the former main street. The hewn sandstone walls are broken up by numerous, irregular windows on two floors. The main portal with its fluted pointed arch walls is topped with a keel arch niche and two tartlets with the city coat of arms. For centuries the interior consisted of pantries and a kitchen, a bath and sweat room, a large and several small rooms, the larger of which was probably the "convent room". A staircase in the middle of the house led to the upper floor.

Before the restoration, which was completed in 1997, the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern was able to carry out systematic examinations of walls and floors. It is assumed that after the completion of the hewn sandstone outer shell and the roof, probably by the municipal construction hut, the incomparably more primitive interior work was carried out by the occupants themselves. There is a clear difference to the architecturally skilful exterior. Apparently various crates were haphazardly joined together. The original expansion can now be traced using the markings.

Life in the infirmary

The equipment and use of the house can be traced on the basis of inventory lists received. In the bathing and sweating room ( sudatorium ), medical applications such as bathing, sweating and cupping were used, with the aim of excreting pathogenic body fluids . Excavated cupping heads, dropper bottles and ointment pots are evidence of the treatment that was probably provided by the town's spa. There was also a kitchen, meat room, cellar, shed, stable and storage room for the residents to eat. A communal dormitory for the poorer and a beneficiary room for better-off inmates who bought better care with their money deposits. The Conventstube was like monasteries of space for gatherings. The fact that the infirmary residents were largely self-sufficient is proven by the many agricultural implements used in cultivating a vegetable garden. A clergyman from the city parish took care of the spiritual well-being, and the nearby chapel was there for prayer and worship. Compared to the rest of the population, the sick lack nothing except the fact that they are terminally ill and that they are singled out for the rest of their lives.

literature

  • Regula Glatz, Daniel Gutscher: Burgdorf. Former infirmary. Results of archaeological excavations and building research 1989-1991 , Bern 1995.
  • Jürg Schweizer: The Art Monuments of the Canton of Bern, Volume 1, The City of Burgdorf, ISBN 3-7643-1712-4

See also

Web links

Commons : Siechenhaus (Burgdorf)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Piera Borradori: Leprosy. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Ingrid Müller-Landgraf: The infirmary. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  3. ↑ Canon 23.
  4. ↑ Infirmary and chapel on digibern, (pages 447-451)
  5. ^ Anne-Marie Dubler : Burgdorf, 2.3. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  6. ^ Find report, Archaeological Service

Coordinates: 47 ° 3 '46.5 "  N , 7 ° 38' 2.3"  E ; CH1903:  614840  /  212,450