Die Schwester
(The Sister)
Following the Battle of Solferino in 1859, Swiss businessman Henry Dunant visited the battlefield. He was deeply disturbed by the sight of 30,000 dead and 10,000 seriously wounded soldiers abandoned by their armies. Dunant took action, organizing much-needed care for the injured with the assistance of volunteers from the nearby local civilian population, predominantly women and girls. Operating under the motto "Tutti fratelli" ("All are brothers"), the volunteers attended to the wounded without considering their nationality. However, the effort faced significant challenges due to shortages of almost everything: volunteers, expertise, medical supplies, and food. Dunant established temporary hospitals and personally funded the delivery of materials and aid. Despite these efforts, many still succumbed to their injuries.
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In the ensuing years, Dunant worked to establish an international agreement to aid wounded soldiers across Europe. This effort culminated in the signing of the first Geneva Convention by 12 nations in 1864. They also agreed upon a unified emblem for the protection of the injured and their caregivers: the distinctive Red Cross on a white background, which is a reversal of the Swiss flag. Concurrently, Dunant and his associates endeavored to create an international organization for the effective implementation of this care. Their vision was to establish neutral volunteers and aid organizations in every country. By 1876, this initiative was widely acknowledged as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Henry Dunant - founder of the Red Cross
In Germany, before Dunant established the Red Cross, the responsibility for caring for the sick and injured was primarily handled by church institutions and religious groups. This was seen both as an act of charity and a way to convert non-believers. The term "sister," still widely used today, originates from the nuns who have been performing this duty for centuries. Interestingly, many modern German male nurses refer to themselves as 'Brothers'.
Basic Timeline of Foundations:
In Germany, the Badische Frauenverein was founded in 1859 in Karlsruhe. One year later, the first sisterhood of the later Red Cross emerged. It was intended to organize the training and deployment of nurses.
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​By October 12th 1871, the Association of German Women's Associations of the Red Cross was founded. It was founded in Würzburg by the seven women's associations, which were then founded in German states as their umbrella organization: Baden, Bavaria, Darmstadt, Dresden, Prussia, Saxe-Weimar-Eisennach and Württemberg.Ultimately the Association of German Nursing Institutes of the Red Cross (1882–1922) was founded in 1882, which the current association of sisters considers its predecessor.
(The following is a incomplete list, but will grow over time.)
Württembergischer Sanitätsverein
The German Red Cross traces its origins back to November 1863. The Württemberg State Association, known as Württembergischer Sanitätsverein, was established on November 12, 1863, in Stuttgart. This organization was created to provide aid to injured soldiers within the Kingdom of Württemberg. Its main objective was to fulfill the role of a voluntary aid society in accordance with the resolutions from the Geneva Conference held on October 29, 1863. The International Committee of Aid Societies for the Care of the Wounded, which organized this conference in February of the same year, eventually became the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1876.
By April 17, 1881, the organization adopted the name "Württemberg Voluntary Medical Corps." The term "Württembergischer Landesverein vom Roten Kreuz" was first used around 1887 and became official in 1896. In 1882, a medical unit was established in Stuttgart. Two decades later, the Kingdom of Württemberg had 22 medical units with approximately 1,100 members. During World War I, the association managed 125 hospitals and 50 convalescent homes for wounded soldiers. On January 25, 1921, the Württemberg State Association joined with Red Cross associations from other German states under the German Red Cross (DRK) umbrella. In subsequent years, it became a regional branch of the DRK.
Vaterländischer Frauenverein
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The Patriotic Women's Association of the Red Cross, also known as Der Vaterländischer Frauenverein (VFV), was established in November 1866. Its primary mission was to care for and assist the wounded during wartime. Initially, the club's area was limited to the city of Berlin. The association was founded in the presence of Henry Dunant (1828–1910) and was under the patronage of Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1811–1890), who was the Queen of Prussia at the time.
Logo of the VFV
The Patriotic Women's Association differed from its sister organization, the Central Committee of the Prussian Association for the care of wounded and sick warriors (1864–1890) or the Prussian National Association of the Red Cross (1890–1937), not only by the fact that women were involved instead of men, but also in terms of tasks. While the men's association initially focused exclusively on help in the event of war, the women's association also included tasks in peacetime, especially in health care and welfare care.
The Great War
When the war began, calls for assistance in caring for the injured were issued, primarily targeting women, though also addressing men who were not fit for active military duty. Initially, Germany had approximately 6,000 fully trained nurses, 1,000 auxiliary nurses, and 7,000 assistants available. This number was far from sufficient to handle the vast number of wounded from the first major mass conflict. Nurses reported that the logistics in place failed and a significant portion of the injured could not receive proper care due to a shortage of staff.
Moreover, the Voluntary Nursing Service members were under the control of the state and military, overseen by an Imperial Commissioner and a Military Inspector.
From the homeland to sick collection centers, train stations, hospital trains, inland waterways, and both war and field hospitals, extending to local infirmaries, soldiers' convalescent homes in the rear, and even partially in the operational areas and colonies. The voluntary nursing service encompassed hospital nurses, orderlies, attendants, as well as laboratory technicians, radiographers, stretcher bearers, nurses on hospital trains, and depot personnel. Volunteers were drawn from various men's and women's associations, including the Red Cross, the Samaritans, the Maltese Order, the Knights of St. John, and the Order of St. George, along with Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish organizations and clubs, as well as professional associations. Many individuals from the general public also joined this service.
Beginning in December 1916, all men aged 17 to 60 who were unfit for military duty were drafted into the Patriotic Auxiliary Service. Around 8,000 civilian doctors were added to bolster personnel resources. Furthermore, nearly 1,100 delegates acted as mediators between civilian and military authorities, managing the allocation of personnel and resources. These delegates were commonly referred to as "Liebes-gabenonkel" or "love uncles."
During the war you would see a wide variety of nurses from various organizations and religious groups.
The Voluntary Nursing Service operated across a wide spectrum of locations, including club and reserve hospitals domestically, hospital collection points, train stations, hospital trains, inland waterways, war and field hospitals, local infirmaries, soldiers' rest homes in the rear, and various other medical facilities.
Transporting the injured to reserve and club hospitals back home for optimal recovery required special transportation methods. Initially, 22 specially outfitted army hospital trains were available. The outfitting of many such trains was funded by donations from nobility, industry, cities, industrial enterprises, and clubs. In total, 89 club hospital trains were deployed in the German Reich, which was four times the usual military provision. This system was further enhanced by auxiliary hospital trains made from converted standard passenger cars (38 in total) and light-patient trains using either unmodified passenger cars or covered freight cars (about 200). Each year, around one million wounded and ill individuals were transported, with an estimated 25,000 journeys made in total. The precise number of men and women who served in the Voluntary Nursing Service during World War I is unknown, but surveys from the 1930s indicate at least 213,000. The number of fatalities among them varies, but it is certain that at least 863 died, including 243 nurses and assistant nurses.
Transporting the injured to reserve and club hospitals back home for optimal recovery required special transportation methods. Initially, 22 specially outfitted army hospital trains were available. The outfitting of many such trains was funded by donations from nobility, industry, cities, industrial enterprises, and clubs. In total, 89 club hospital trains were deployed in the German Reich, which was four times the usual military provision. This system was further enhanced by auxiliary hospital trains made from converted standard passenger cars (38 in total) and light-patient trains using either unmodified passenger cars or covered freight cars (about 200). Each year, around one million wounded and ill individuals were transported, with an estimated 25,000 journeys made in total. The precise number of men and women who served in the Voluntary Nursing Service during World War I is unknown, but surveys from the 1930s indicate at least 213,000. The number of fatalities among them varies, but it is certain that at least 863 died, including 243 nurses and assistant nurses.
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FUN FACT! Did you know the Nurses had many different 'names'? Three examples were:
Schwester, Krankenschwestern, & Krankenpflegerin
The sisters made a difference to many lives!
In The End
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By the end of the Great War, one of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles prevented the Red Cross of any form in Germany from having any involvement in military matters. Which by extension would mean a lack of aid during conflicts for the German Army in war. As a result, during the Weimar Republic the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz - DRK (German Red Cross) was founded in Berlin in January of 1921 as an umbrella organization. It became a national organization focusing on social welfare of the German people.
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However, all Red Cross organizations were dissolved by law in December 1937 and absorbed into the DRK due to the Nazi party. The first iteration of the German Red Cross existed in the period of National Socialism (1933–1945) and for the first five months after the end of WW2. The DRK was reborn in 1950 and has existed since then.
DRK logo
​Curators Notes
So I wished to start by saying thank you for taking a read of this. A lot of this information took a considerable amount of research and time. Since I do this as a hobby, I got side tracked by pressing matters in real life. But I wanted to say that I enjoyed gleaning what information I could find on the subject at hand, and wanted to share my findings since there is not much information on the Nurses (Sisters) during the Great War. A lot of translations had to be done, and lots of pesky questions to be asked with my Ex-Girlfriend that is a 'sister' and very dear to me among other people. Ultimately, this article is a continuous and there for not complete at this moment.
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If anyone that has additional information and wishes to help out with this article, I would be greatly thankful. Special accommodations will be provided to said help(er).
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I am currently working on a continuation to this article through a study page on the badges worn by the sisters. It will be published over the summer of 2025, barring anything unexpected from happening. Until then, you can red about other fun red cross items used by Germany during the Great War: LINK
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Afterthought Note: If one wishes to recreate a sister's impression of the Great War, do not use American or British Patterns, it is incorrect and although similar design it still doesn't make it correct.​