Schweikardt Christoph
Institute for History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Nurs Hist Rev. 2010;18:29-50. doi: 10.1891/1062-8061.18.29.
In 1884, seven deaconesses from Iserlohn, Germany, came to the Philadelphia German Hospital to take over nursing care and hospital administration. This article deals with the preparation and implementation of deaconess rule at the German Hospital and conflicts during the tenure of the first two Sisters Superior, Marie Krueger (1826-1887) and Wanda von Oertzen (1845-1897). Recruitment of the deaconesses took place within a network of relations between German and American motherhouses. Before their arrival in Philadelphia, the benefactor of the German Hospital, John D. Lankenau (1817-1901), had committed himself to hospital rule by the Sister Superior. A Deaconess Committee was created to deal with the opposition of the Medical Board. Introducing deaconesses to the Philadelphia German Hospital led to a major change of medical personnel and allowed the hospital to develop a new corporate identity.
