Bern – Diaconis Foundation

Since 2011, the foundation in Bern bears the name Diaconis. However, the history of the Deaconess House in Bern goes back to the year 1844, when the patrician daughter Sophie von Wurstemberger founded an asylum for sick people. The training of deaconesses began one year later. In the following decades, Sophie and her husband Friedrich Dändliker continuously expanded the work.

In 1934, the organization reached its largest size with 1,058 deaconesses. Today, the sisters are assisted in their spiritual work by the StadtCommunität Don Camillo, which moved into the Mother House in 2013.

The station for palliative therapy (today: palliative care), founded in 1995, is an important mainstay for the foundation. The Salem-Spital, founded in 1888, was sold in 2002. Today, Diaconis is active in the following fields: habitation for old people, social integration, education and theology.