Deaconess Hospital
Oudegracht 419
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The beginnings of "The Diak", an important hospital in the region Utrecht — The Deaconess Hospital (Dutch: Diaconessenhuis) is the oldest (deaconess) hospital in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1844, when Professor Bernardus Franciscus Suerman took charge of the medical treatment of patients. Suerman taught the deaconesses at the patients' bedsides. A deaconess is a "servant" who cares for the sick and poor based on her Christian beliefs and lifestyle, so the term and profession are very old. Often the deaconesses were unmarried young women or widows. They had to remain unmarried to devote their lives to caring for the poor and sick in the name of the Gospel. The deaconesses lived together in the motherhouse, where they were also educated. The mother superior was in charge there. The sisters received board and lodging and a little pocket money, but this wasn't much. They also had little free time and were expected to behave neatly and chastely. Consequently, they were not allowed to wear civilian clothes. So a deaconess was actually a kind of medical nun.
The Deaconess Hospital started out in a rented house on the Springweg, back then there were only 47 patients and 3 deaconesses. As the Deaconess Hospital grew, it moved to the southern Oudegracht, to the address Achter de Twijnstraat 30-33 (now Oudegracht 419-421). The Diaconessenstraat nearby is a reminder of this. Finally, in 1930, the hospital moved once more, to Bosboomstraat 1, where it's still located. The modern hospital also has locations in the region surrounding Utrecht, in Doorn and Zeist. Until the 1970's, 30 to 40 deaconesses still worked at the hospital, but in the 1990's the hospital definitively cut ties with its Christian history and foundations. Only science would henceforth guide treatment and research methods. In August 1997, the last deaconess, Ms. Hendriks, retired.
