• ... shows the house rules of the municipal maternity hospital "Zuflucht" from 1901.
• Virtuous and married poor women who had recently given birth could make use of the Marianneninstitut in Bendelstraße, which was founded in 1830, for nine days.
• Unmarried women and those considered unvirtuous could go to the municipal maternity hospital "Zuflucht", which was located at the back of the Marianneninstitut.

The Aachen City Archive regularly presents interesting items from its stacks as Archive of the Month. The item with a short accompanying text is presented in a display case in the foyer of the city archive on Reichsweg as well as digitally on the archive's homepage. In March 2025, the Archivale of the month shows the house rules of the municipal maternity hospital "Zuflucht" from 1901.

Women who were pregnant and living in poverty in Aachen in the 19th century did not have many options for support during childbirth. Virtuous and married poor women who had recently given birth could make use of the Marianneninstitut in Bendelstraße, founded in 1830, for nine days. The institute was named after Princess Marianne of Prussia.

The municipal administration for the poor paid the costs of the stay
During this time, the women were provided with everything they needed free of charge and trained by the institute's midwives in handling their babies. The municipal administration for the poor paid for their accommodation costs. The Marianneninstitut, which moved to larger premises at Jakobstraße 18 in 1897, existed until 1959; around 40,000 Aacheners were born there.

Unmarried women and women who were not considered virtuous could go to the municipal maternity hospital "Zuflucht", which was located at the back of the Marianneninstitut and had its entrance at Annuntiatenbach. The property for the "Refuge" was purchased by the municipal administration for the poor in 1899 from the Mariannenverein, the operator of the Marianneninstitut, and the maternity hospital was built there. The funds for this came primarily from a foundation set up by Philipp Heinrich Cockerill. The city of Aachen concluded a contract with the Mariannenverein for the care of the women in the "Zuflucht", which came into force on April 1, 1901.

"Strict" house rules
There were strict "house rules for the patients of the municipal maternity hospital 'Zuflucht'". The pregnant women were referred to as "nursing patients" and were divided into different classes. The city paid the lowest food costs for the nursing patients in class III, which is why they had to participate in the work in the maternity hospital and were only allowed to wear institutional clothing.

The women had to behave "decently and quietly". "All noise, shouting and quarrelling is forbidden." They were not allowed to enter their bedrooms during the day and were only allowed to receive visitors on Sundays from 2 to 3 pm; women who had recently given birth were not allowed to receive visitors at all.

Mail was passed through the midwife's hands and women could be refused to receive or send mail if there was any suspicion of offensive content. They were also not allowed to leave the institution without the doctor's permission. But the rules of conduct went even further. They were forbidden to "lie in the window or communicate with persons outside the institution by word or sign. Violations led to immediate dismissal from the institution.


Sources:
Stadtarchiv Aachen, PRZ 30-1139 and -1319, fol. 117; BAU 5-738