Deaconesses in nursing care

The transnational approach has led to the emergence of new historical research areas and topics. With the concept of „transfer history“, there has been a growing interest in historical studies of religious communities because they were early „global players“. Originating typically in France, many Catholic sisterhoods settled in numerous other European and non-European countries. Likewise, Protestant deaconess motherhouses became a popular German export in the nineteenth century. The contributions to this anthology examine the transnational history of the deaconess movement, focusing on the example of Protestant deaconesses who worked as nurses. Focal point is a nursing organisation that was founded in the 1830s in Germany, but was subsequently exported to many European and even non-European countries. If the deaconess motherhouses wanted to stand a chance of survival in these countries, they had to adapt to the specific cultural and societal contexts. Due to these adaptation processes, the deaconess motherhouses are particularly suitable for an international comparative and transfer history. Honored in 2017 with the Mary M. Roberts Award for Exemplary Historical Scholarship and Writing from the American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN)