[The hospice idea--a new ars moriendi?].

The concept of hospices, which aim it is to improve the quality of life of dying people, so that the possibility of a spiritual and mental development is given until their death, finds more and more supporters worldwide. It refers to the diaconian attitude of the Middle Ages. As it is open to the religious aspects of death, there is a relation to the literature of ars moriendi of the late Middle Ages.