House of the Niederbronn Sisters

Station 6

The order of the so-called "Niederbronn Sisters" was founded in the Convent of Niederbronn in Alsace in 1849. They saw their main task in tending sick people in need and the general relief of the poor, a mission which they continue to pursue throughout the world to this day. 

Two Niederbronn Sisters moved into the premises of house no. 44 in 1901: a nurse and a sister for "infant day care". A total of 56 sisters worked here until 1974, but there were never more than seven sisters at any one time.

Apart from the nursery, the sisters ran a sewing school, a laundry and provided local nursing care.

The nursery was financed through the "Sisters Association" and a weekly amount (10 pfennig per child). The children were also looked after if the parents were short of money.

All girls attended the sewing school full-time in the winter months before marriage. They sewed clothing for work, Sunday best, festivities and Holy Communion. 

Nursing care was available at any time, also at night. People went "to the sisters first", because the treatment was free of charge and directly on the spot. Only if treatment was beyond the medical knowledge of the sisters did they go to the doctor, who they had to pay for his services. The last Niederbronn Sister left Burgebrach in 1974, because there was a lack of new recruits to the order.