Hospitals and social welfare facilities in Frankfurt's Ostend district

The Jewish benefactor Betty Gumpertz founded the Gumpertz'sches Siechenhaus association in 1888 to house and treat the chronically ill and destitute. A generous donation from the Minka von Goldschmidt-Rothschild Foundation made it possible to construct a foundation building for 60 patients on Röderbergweg. Completed in 1907, the building included operating theaters, an X-ray machine and a laboratory. In 1911, a prayer room was set up and a home rabbi was employed. For financial reasons, the front building, located directly on Röderbergweg, had to be leased to the city of Frankfurt. What remained was the rear building with a capacity of 30 beds. Like all Jewish foundations and associations, the Gumpertz'sche Siechenhaus was forcibly incorporated into the "Reich Association of Jews in Germany" in 1940. The residents were relocated to the hospital of the Jewish community in 1941 and presumably deported from there to concentration and extermination camps. After the Second World War, the Association of Victims of National Socialism (VVN), the Röderbergverlag publishing house, artists and a children's store moved in. Around 1980, the front building was demolished for an extension by the Workers' Welfare Association (AWO). Today, the AWO's August Stunz Center is based here.

The Israelite Orphanage was founded by private individuals in 1876. According to the statutes, the orphanage aimed to "provide unprovided Israelite orphans (...) with an education in accordance with the principles of traditional Judaism and to replace faithful parental care as far as possible in the care of the mind and body". Children between the ages of six and twelve were admitted and could live at the institution until they had completed their vocational training. Frankfurt patron Mathilde von Rothschild (1832-1924) donated the new building at Röderbergweg 87, which was opened in 1903. From 1918, Rosa and Isidor Marx ran the home, which could accommodate up to 75 children. From 1935, more and more Jews from rural areas fled to Frankfurt to seek protection from persecution. The number of residents soon rose to around 150. After the November pogrom of 1938, Isidor and Rosa Marx tried to take as many children abroad as possible. Through contacts in Switzerland, France, Holland, England and Palestine, around 1,000 children were saved. In the spring of 1942, Rosa Marx, the staff and the remaining children were deported and murdered. Isidor Marx survived in British exile. Today, the Rosa-Marx-Weg is located near the memorial site at the Frankfurt wholesale market hall.

After the death of their 17-year-old daughter Georgine Sara, Wilhelm Carl Freiherr von Rothschild and his wife Hannah Mathilde decided to establish a hospital bearing the name of the deceased. The foundation was established in 1870 with the aim of "establishing a hospital run strictly in accordance with religious regulations for poor Jewish patients without means who were not entitled to admission to another local Jewish sanatorium". On October 1, 1878, a new building with initially 19 beds was inaugurated on the Röderbergweg 93-97 site. The hospital was under the supervision of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, founder of the neo-orthodox Israelite Religious Society (IRG). His son Dr. Marcus Hirsch later took over the post of chief physician. In 1931/32, extensive renovations and modernizations were carried out under the direction of Frankfurt architect Fritz Nathan. After the conversion, 50 beds, two operating theaters and an X-ray department were available. In May 1941, the Georgine Sara von Rothschild'sche Hospital was closed and all patients were transferred to the Israelite Community Hospital. The staff and residents of the Israelite Hospital were deported to concentration and extermination camps in August and September 1942 and in most cases murdered.

The children's hospital donated by Mathilde von Rothschild was opened in 1903 and offered sick and malnourished children the opportunity to spend several weeks recovering. There were twelve beds available, which were occupied by both girls and boys. In accordance with the principles of the Israelite Religious Society, the mitzvot (= commandments or religious duties) were observed, which also included the dietary regulations. The head physician was initially Dr. Marcus Hirsch, who was succeeded by Dr. Elieser Rosenbaum and in 1922 by his son Dr. Saly Rosenbaum. The statutes were changed in the 1920s to the effect that only girls were now admitted to the children's hospital. Special emphasis was placed on the treatment of malnutrition and the resulting secondary diseases. In 1940, the Mathilde von Rothschild Children's Hospital was forcibly incorporated into the "Reich Association of Jews in Germany" and thus lost its independence. It was forcibly closed in June 1941.

The Association for Jewish Nurses was founded in 1893 with the aim of training Jewish women as nurses. In the decades of professionalization of nursing, the association took on a pioneering role in this new professional field. The nurses' home was initially located in the immediate vicinity of the Israelite community hospital in Königswarterstraße. In May 1914, the nurses' home at Bornheimer Landwehr 85 was opened at the same time as the neighboring new building of the Israelite hospital. The nurses' house provided accommodation for 60 nurses and students. Applicants had to be between 21 and 36 years old; Jewish denomination and an impeccable reputation were prerequisites. For the duration of their training, the students received board and lodging as well as pocket money of ten Reichsmark per month. A strict regiment prevailed in the house. Short hairstyles were forbidden, as were intimate relationships. The facilities in the nurses' home were comfortable. For example, there were showers and bathtubs with hot water. During the years of National Socialism, the nurses' home was also "Aryanized" and forced to close in November 1940. The remaining residents and staff were quartered in the already overcrowded hospital of the Jewish community. Some managed to flee abroad in time. The majority of the nurses were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and other camps from the summer of 1942 and murdered. The stumbling stones of the nurse Dina Strauss and her mother Auguste Strauss are located at the former site of the nurses' home and refer to the history of persecution during the National Socialist era.

Until 1942, the Jewish community's hospital was located on the site of today's Jewish Community Centre for the Elderly. After the Shoah, survivors from Theresienstadt and other camps were given makeshift accommodation in the provisionally refurbished ruins. From 1952, the old buildings of the former hospital officially served as a retirement home for the community. Between 1973 and 1977, a modern retirement home was built on the site. The 25 million euro project included a retirement and nursing home, a rehabilitation center with an exercise pool, apartments for the elderly and a synagogue. Today, the entire complex offers space for 300 elderly residents in need of care, making it the largest Jewish facility of its kind in Germany. The project was largely driven forward by board members Ignatz Bubis and Ignaz Lipinski. The Jewish community received support for the construction from the City of Frankfurt and the Hessian state government. Between 2004 and 2008, the old people's center was completely renovated and modernized. The retirement center and synagogue were designed by architect Hermann Zvi Guttmann, who was himself a member of the community council for many years. The parabolic floor plan is typical of the places of worship designed by Guttmann. Gdansk flashed glass was used for the large leaded windows. The Torah shrine is located in the eastern part of the synagogue, which is designed as an apse. Hermann Zvi Guttmann died before the prayer hall was completed. The Atereth Zvi Synagogue was named in memory of the architect. The synagogue, which was inaugurated on March 14, 1978, offers space for 92 worshippers. Shortly before his death, Guttmann had selected natural stone and wood for the interior of the synagogue.

When the hospital of the Jewish community in Königswarter Straße was due for modernization and renovation around 1900, the community council decided to build a new building on Gagernstraße. The architect Franz Roeckle, who would later also design the Frankfurt Westend Synagogue, took on the planning. The construction costs of 2.5 million Reichsmark were largely covered by foundations and donations from members of the congregation. Construction was based on the corridor system, with five buildings grouped around an elongated park. The new hospital had 200 beds. It had departments for internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and urology as well as a modern X-ray department. Thanks to constant expansion and modernization, the Israelite Hospital remained one of the most advanced and best-equipped hospitals in Frankfurt. Numerous non-Jewish patients also visited it. As part of the enforced "Jewish contracts", the City of Frankfurt acquired the property in 1939, while the Israelite community received the buildings for rent for three years. In 1941/42, the clinic became a collection camp where patients and elderly people from the Jewish institutions that had already been closed were accommodated. At times, up to 400 people were accommodated in the hospital, as well as over 100 employees and 37 teaching nurses. Staff, patients and other people seeking protection were deported to concentration and extermination camps in August and September 1942; very few people survived. After the Second World War and the Shoah, survivors from the Theresienstadt concentration camp were provisionally housed in the ruins on Gagernstrasse.

Louise Baroness von Rothschild opened the Clementine Mädchen-Hospital in 1875 in memory of her daughter Clementine (1845-1865), who died at a young age. At the time, the property and the villa on it were located in an otherwise undeveloped area on the Röderberg. The hospital was designed for 18 to 20 beds. In 1899, the number of beds was doubled with an extension. Girls between the ages of two and 15 were treated. Patients were admitted regardless of their religious affiliation. This was very much in line with Clementine von Rothschild's philosophy, who had already campaigned for understanding between religions as a schoolgirl. Medical care was provided free of charge, so that girls from poor families were also treated. Dr. Jakob de Bary, who was also the Rothschild family's family doctor, initially took over the position of head physician. August de Bary, his son, became his successor in 1915. The years of inflation after the First World War decimated the foundation's capital considerably. In 1928, the property was transferred to the Patriotic Women's Association of the Red Cross. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the head physician Prof. Dr. Paul Grosser and the paediatricians Dr. Hugo Hochschild and Dr. Gustav Simon, all three of Jewish origin, were dismissed and fled the German Reich. After the Second World War and the Shoah, the Clementine Children's Hospital Foundation was revived. The children's hospital has been based in Theobald-Christ-Straße since 1954.