The Bethel Foundation, officially the Bodelschwingh Foundation Bethel (german: von Bodelschwinghsche Stiftungen Bethel as of 2009, previously ''v. Bodelschwinghsche Anstalten Bethel'') is a diaconal (i.e. Protestant charitable)
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
in
Bethel
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
, formerly a town, today a neighbourhood of
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
![Bielefeld-Bethel Sarepta 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Bielefeld-Bethel_Sarepta_2011.jpg)
The healthcare foundation was established in 1867 as ''Evangelische Heil- und Pflegeanstalt für Epileptische'' (Protestant institute of healing and care for epileptics) in Gadderbaum, today a locality of Bielefeld. In 1872 Pastor
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, Senior
Friedrich Christian Carl von Bodelschwingh (* 6 March 1831 in Tecklenburg; † 2 April 1910 in Bielefeld-Bethel), better known as Friedrich von Bodelschwingh the Elder, was a German theologian and politician. He is remembered as the founder of th ...
, a proponent of the
inner mission
The Inner Mission (german: Innere Mission, also translated as Home Mission) was and is a movement of German evangelists, set up by Johann Hinrich Wichern in Wittenberg in 1848 based on a model of Theodor Fliedner. It quickly spread from Germany to ...
within the then
Evangelical State Church in Prussia
The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Pru ...
became its director. He massively strengthened and extended the institution, with more premises also for the poor and at other locations, and renamed it after
Bethel
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
in 1874. The name Bethel was also started being used for the neighbourhood, which developed outside the hospital. Later Bodelschwingh's name was compounded to the institution's name. In 1910 Bodelschwingh, Senior, died and the leadership passed on to his son
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, Junior, who led the institution until his death in 1946.
The institution is notable for its resistance against the Nazi Germany era. In August 1933, some six months after Hitler had become Reich Chancellor, Pastor Bodelschwingh, Junior, met with
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...
and a few others to draft a new confession of faith, clarifying the grounds for resisting the Nazification of Germany.
[Enno Obendiek, „Die Theologische Erklärung von Barmen 1934: Hinführung“, in: ''„… den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß“: Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 52–58, here p. 57. ] The resulting document, called the
Bethel Declaration
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
(Betheler Bekenntnis), was an early form of resistance to Hitler, a rejection of
Christian anti-Judaism
Anti-Judaism is the "total or partial opposition to Judaism as a religion—and the total or partial opposition to Jews as adherents of it—by persons who accept a competing theology, system of beliefs and ritual, practices and consider certai ...
and racist anti-Semitism,
though in practical terms it did nothing to impede the Nazis.
[Eberhard Bethge, ''Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography'', Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000, pp. 296–303.] During the course of the
T-4 Euthanasia Program
(German, ) was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-war trials against doctors who had been involved in the killings. The name T4 is an abbreviation of 4, a street address of t ...
, which ran in 1940 and 1941 and was aimed at exterminating physically and mentally disabled people, the staff at the institution were mainly in opposition to that crime of the
National Socialist
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
party. In 1940,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
ordered the gassing of all mental patients. The director of the hospital, pastor Bodelschwingh, Junior, resisted.
: ''"You can put me into a
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
if you want, that is your affair. But as long as I am free, you do not touch one of my patients. I cannot change to fit the times or the wishes of the Führer. I stand under orders from our Lord Jesus Christ."''
- Pastor Bodelschwingh, Junior
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L15088, Bethel, Beisetzung von Bombenopfern](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-L15088%2C_Bethel%2C_Beisetzung_von_Bombenopfern.jpg)
Parts of the hospitals were destroyed in a British Royal Air Force air raid in 1940. In religious respect the Bethel Institution is related to the
Evangelical Church of Westphalia
The Protestant Church of Westphalia (german: Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen, EKvW) is a United Protestant church body in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The seat of the praeses (german: Präses, the head of the church) is Bielefeld. The EKvW emerged ...
, the Westphalian regional successor of the old-Prussian Church. In 1946 Bodelschwingh, Junior, died and Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (1902–1977), nephew of Bodelschwingh, Junior, and grandson of the Senior, started managing the part of the Bethel Institution located at Gadderbaum, serving as the general director of all the Bethel Institutions between 1959 and 1969. The Bethel Institution is currently still being used as a mental hospital.
References
External links
''v. Bodelschwingh Foundation Bethel''
{{Authority control
Psychiatric hospitals in Germany
Hospital buildings completed in 1875
Buildings and structures in Bielefeld
Organizations established in 1867
Medical and health organisations based in North Rhine-Westphalia