St. Laurentius Senior Center (Former Hospital)

Impressive historical facade of the former Laurentius Hospital

The senior citizen monastery, the grammar school and the old church form an impressive line of sight and give you a brief glimpse into bygone times.

After the Catholic priest Heinrich Hake had campaigned for the construction of the hospital in the then town of Steele in the middle of the 19th century, it was built by the Steele architect Johannes Schirner. The hospital began operations in June 1869, with the first patient being a seriously injured worker from the Neu-Schottland steelworks in Unterer Horst, which had been built in 1856. The sisters of the Poor Servants of Jesus Christ order from Dernbach in the Westerwald served here from the beginning until 1968. The doctors Hülsebusch, who worked for free in the early years, as well as Schwellenbach and Schnütgen initially shaped the house. In addition, doctors from the Neu-Schottland Mining and Steelworks Association were able to care for their own patients in the house. The overall appearance of the current building with neo-Gothic elements was created in around five construction phases from 1877. An operating room that was modern for the time was set up under the chapel built in 1904. After the entire building complex was given an additional floor in 1911, the hospital was finally completed and inaugurated in 1912. The clinic was closed in 1981 following protests. The conversion to the St. Laurentius nursing home began, with former hospital employees being taken on by the new company. In 1998, with the help of the Essen St. Elisabeth Foundation, the nursing home was turned into a modern senior citizens' foundation. In 1999, the foundation stone was laid for the new building, which was inaugurated in August 2001 and is located south of and behind the old building. In addition, nursing operations in the historic old building were stopped in March 2000. The administration and conference rooms are now located on the ground floor of this old building, which has been a listed building since August 6, 1989. A sales outlet and a hairdresser also offer their services here. In the new building, seniors live on two floors in four residential groups. It offers a total of 78 single and 12 double rooms and is surrounded by green areas. A connecting corridor leads from the new to the old building, where, among other things, the house chapel is reached, where regular services of both denominations are held. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seniorenstift_St._Laurentius geo.essen.de/webdaten/sta61/Denkmaeler/Foto_Htm_und_pdf/AK1_Lfd_Nr_388.pdf