The Hôpital civil de Strasbourg is one of the oldest medical establishments in France. Today it is a major component of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg, a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

that is the biggest employer in Alsace, with over 11,000 employees, ranking fourth in France in terms of quality.

History

First hospital

According to the 1143 charter of Bishop , preserved in the municipal archives of the city of Strasbourg, the hospital was founded in the year 1119, although another source refers to a hospital in 1105. The first building was located close to the cathedral, in the street that now bears its name (rue du vieil hôpital). A religious brotherhood, probably Augustinian, took care of the sick and destitute. Being a religious establishment, with a mission to care for the needy, the hospital turned nobody away. The Great Interregnum of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, from 1254 to 1273, was a period of great instability in Alsace. The hospital gave asylum to a large influx of refugees from the countryside, where feuding lords burnt a number of villages.

Second hospital

During the 14th century, the population of Strasbourg was decimated by famine and by the plague. It was decided to move the hospital outside of the city walls. A new hospital was constructed just outside the city gate that became known as the "Porte de l'Hôpital". The hospital was devastated by fire on 6 November 1716, apparently started by a washerwoman with a candle. It was largely rebuilt between 1717 and 1725.

Third hospital

Two new buildings were opened in the hospital grounds in 2008, which together are known as the "Nouvel Hôpital civil", covering 90,000 square metres. The inauguration, in the presence of the French

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

, took place on 6 January 2009. The new blocks include 715 beds. The equipment includes a Da Vinci robotic surgical system.

Porte de l'hôpital

The Strasbourg city walls of 1340 included seven gates. Of these only one remains, the Porte de l'hôpital or Spitaltor, including a 14th-century external fresco. This city gate is located at the entrance of the old hospital, next to the Erhard Chapel. It was classified a

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

in 1929.

Chapelle Erhard

The Protestant Chapel at the hospital entrance, dedicated to St Erhard, was built in 1428.

Wine cellars

The wine cellars, which date from 1395, are a tourist attraction in their own right. Over the centuries, many patients paid for their care by leaving parcels of land that have grown to constitute a vast area of vineyards. The 1716 fire that destroyed most of the hospital, spared the wine cellars. The cellars produce some 150,000 bottles a year of Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Riesling and Pinot Gris. The historic cellar is renowned for the quality of its wines but does no advertising and reinvests all its profits in the purchase of medical equipment. In the 18th century, the Hospital of Strasbourg was the largest Domaine in Alsace, making and selling wine as a side business. Patients were given two litres of wine a day. One of the barrels contains what is reputed to be the oldest wine on earth, dating from 1472.

Notable people

* Adolph Kussmaul (1822–1902), doctor *

Bernhard Naunyn Bernhard Naunyn (2 September 1839 – 26 July 1925) was a German pathologist, born in Berlin. Biography After receiving his degree at the University of Berlin in 1863, he became an assistant to pathologist Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs (1819� ...

(1839–1925), internist * Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (1845–1922), pioneer of

tropical medicine Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Physicians in this field diagnose and tr ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

in 1907 * Otto Wilhelm Madelung (1846–1926), doctor *

Joseph von Mering Josef, Baron von Mering (28 February 1849, in Cologne – 5 January 1908, at Halle an der Saale, Germany) was a German physician. Working at the University of Strasbourg, Mering was the first person to discover (in conjunction with Oskar Minkow ...

(1849–1908), physician *

Albrecht Kossel Ludwig Karl Martin Leonhard Albrecht Kossel (; 16 September 1853 – 5 July 1927) was a biochemist and pioneer in the study of genetics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1910 for his work in determining the chemical ...

(1853–1927), doctor,

in 1910 *

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure fo ...

(1854–1915), doctor,

in 1908 *

Oskar Minkowski Oskar Minkowski (; 13 January 1858 – 18 July 1931) was a German physician and physiologist who held a professorship at the University of Breslau and is most famous for his research on diabetes. He was the brother of the mathematician Hermann ...

(1858–1931), doctor *

Otto Loewi Otto Loewi (; 3 June 1873 – 25 December 1961) was a Germany, German-born pharmacology, pharmacologist and psychobiologist who discovered the role of acetylcholine as an endogenous neurotransmitter. For this discovery, he was awarded the Nobel ...

(1873–1961), doctor,

in 1936 *

René Leriche Henri Marie René Leriche (12 October 1879 – 28 December 1955) was a French vascular surgeon and physiologist. He was a specialist in pain, vascular surgery and the sympathetic trunk. He sensitized many who were mutilated in the first World ...

(1879–1955), surgeon *

Otto Fritz Meyerhof Otto Fritz Meyerhof (; 12 April 1884 – 6 October 1951) was a German physician and biochemist who won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Biography Otto Fritz Meyerhof was born in Hannover, at Theaterplatz 16A (now:Rathenaustrasse ...

(1884–1951), doctor,

in 1922 * Jacques Marescaux (1948–), head of digestive surgery department

References

Literature

*Recht, Roland; Foessel, Georges; Klein, Jean-Pierre: ''Connaître Strasbourg'', 1988, , pages 187–189

External links

The University Hospitals of Strasbourg

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopital civil, Strasbourg Buildings and structures completed in 1725 Hospital buildings completed in the 18th century Teaching hospitals in France Hospital buildings completed in 2008 1110s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1119 establishments in Europe Monuments historiques of Strasbourg Hospitals established in the 12th century 21st-century architecture in France 18th-century architecture in France