I Kastner | Search PubMed

Among three large medieval foundations: St George's Hospital (opened in 1212 as a shelter for the homeless and terminally sick), St John's Hospital (first mentioned as a leprosarium in 1278) and St James' Hospital (probably opened at the end of 15 c. as a shelter for the terminally sick) only St George's and St James' survived the changeable fortunes of Leipzig (though the latter was at a number of occasions destroyed and rebuilt at a different site). Particularly at the times of war and epidemics they were used as field hospitals. E.G. St James' since 1566 was used as a quarantine for the plaque victims. At the end of 19 c. Leipzig hospitals had practically no isolation wards. In 1871 as a result of small-pox, temporary building were constructed for infections patients moved later to St James'. The particular status of Leipzig as a trade, fair and transportation centre influenced a number of decisions concerning the prevention of epidemics whose introduction coincided with the state and land regulations dealing with observation of people suspected to be ill, isolating them and desinfecting objects of contact. The town archives disclose talks concering the construction of isolation stations at St James', in 1913 St George's was reopened. It had kept two buildings for the sick, mostly TB patients.

Communicable Disease Control↗