Clinic

From sanatorium to modern hospital

History

In its long and varied past spanning over 50 years, the focus of the Parkinson-Klinik Wolfach has always been on the sick and convalescent.

In 1911, the former villa belonging to industrialist Baron Hans von Verschuer became ‘a rest home for convalescents and people in need of peace and relaxation’. The first patients from the Reichsversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte in Berlin (now the Federal Insurance Institution for Employees) came to Wolfach in 1913. From 1914 to 1915, the estate was used by the Red Cross as a military hospital. After the War, it became a rest home again for the Federal Insurance Institution for Employees, although only female members were admitted until 1945.

The early days of the Parkinson Clinic

After occupation by the French, the building was returned to its former owner in 1951. A year later, neurologist Dr. Fritz Barlen opened the ‘Sanatorium for Parkinson Patients’, and in July 1953, he was granted a concession to turn the sanatorium into a private clinic for patients of Parkinson’s.

Following Barlen’s death, Dr. Wohlauf took over management of the clinic and renamed it ‘Klinik Dr. Wohlauf’ in 1956. Under his auspices, the clinic specialised in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson patients. When the state of Baden-Württemberg included the clinic in its ‘State list of accreditation’ in 1989 as a ‘hospital providing level 2 care’, the Klinik Dr. Wohlauf specialised exclusively in the treatment of Parkinson’s and related disorders. In 1990, Dr. Gerd A. Fuchs, consultant neurologist, psychotherapist and psychiatrist, took on the work of Dr. Wohlauf and became medical director of the clinic. Two years later, the clinic was renamed ‘Parkinson-Klinik Wolfach’.

The proprietors Angela und Wolfgang Stegelitz refurbished the old clinic building and had the ‘Gästehaus am Park’ annexe built in 1996. With the support of the state of Baden-Württemberg, they invested around eight million Euro in the extension, the so-called ‘bed house’, which was opened in 2003. This increased the clinic’s working space space from 1,700 to 3,200 square metres while the original capacity (60 beds) was maintained. The aim of the architects was to retain the clinic’s functional character and typically personal atmosphere in which patients feel like guests rather than patients with an illness.