Heiligen-Geist-Hospital

One of the oldest social institutions in the world, founded in 1227

The Hospital of the Holy Spirit, opposite the Hansemuseum, is one of the oldest still-existing social institutions in the world. The original 1227 foundation cared for the sick, the elderly, and the destitute, paid for by a tax on the salt traffic that came through Lübeck.

The front building is a three-spired Gothic chapel that opens onto the long ward behind. Wooden cubicles (the Kammern) the residents lived in remain in place — 130 of them, each with a bed, a chair, and barely enough space to stand. The hospital still operates as an old-age home in newer buildings behind, but the medieval ward is open daily.

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A story
When it was founded in 1227 — partially modelled on the Santa Maria Nuova in Florence — the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital had room for 170 patients. It treated, fed, and sheltered the sick poor of Lübeck for almost eight centuries, until the wards were finally closed in 1970. The original medieval cubicle beds, divided by wooden screens, are preserved in the long hall.

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