Biomaterial Database

[Old picture postcards depicting hospital wards--puzzling similarities]. 2013

Ignace Schretlen

ignaceschretlen@gmail.com

Picture postcards were as popular in the beginning of the twentieth century as social media is today. Hospital wards were also depicted on them. It is curious to note the similarities between these pictures. This can be explained by developments in the architecture of hospitals. This architecture underwent radical changes in the second half of the nineteenth century: to prevent complications caused by infections, patients were cared for in pavilions. Light, clean air and space did indeed result in a considerable reduction of these complications. The prototype of such a pavilion in the Charité Hospital in Berlin was brought to fruition in many countries. This explains the remarkable uniformity of hospital wards found on old picture postcards.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009426	Netherlands	Country located in EUROPE. It is bordered by the NORTH SEA, BELGIUM, and GERMANY. Constituent areas are Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, formerly included in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES.	Holland,Kingdom of the Netherlands
D010781	Photography	Method of making images on a sensitized surface by exposure to light or other radiant energy.	Photographies
D006761	Hospitals	Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.	Hospital
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001108	Architecture	Works on the art and science of designing buildings and structures, design of the total built environment, including town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture.
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History