Vinzentinerinnen-Place

After the convent was founded in 1891 (due to a typhus epidemic), the Vincentian sisters were able to provide intensive care to the population. The sisters also looked after mentally handicapped children.

With an extension in 1911, the long-held wish to have its own chapel came true. A kindergarten and a retirement home were set up in the premises above the chapel; both institutions were run by the sisters themselves. The two world wars gave the sisters a lot of extra work and worries, with the care of wounded soldiers and civilians.

Residents of the retirement home and recovering patients could relax in the vegetable garden. The garden was well protected between the order house and the stable that was part of it.

After 1945, a farm hand took charge of the work in the stable and garden. More attention was paid to the garden, as the sisters wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. They put their hands to the work themselves and looked after the vegetables and fruit. The strawberries, in particular, were a delight to everyone, as berries were not available on every table in those days. Gooseberries and red currants yielded considerable harvests. Various fruit trees also grew in the garden. Vegetables were made into jams and preserves.

In the middle was a small shed where the lettuces, leeks and rapini were cleaned and processed.

A statue in honour of the 104 years of work of the Vincentian Sisters was unveiled on the small square in front of the former St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bütgenbach near the actual cemetary of Bütgenbach. This is a significant act of remembrance that highlights the life traces of the Vincentian Sisters, who went out into the villages of the Bütgenbach area, cared for the sick, elderly and orphans, looked after the needy and provided organised nursing care in St. Joseph’s Hospital.
The artist Klaus Gehlen from Mützenich has cast the expressive bronze statue of a nun with an injured child. “… a dedicated and hard-working nun… who radiates joie de vivre from her serving love”.

In addition to the statue of a Vincentian nun, several display boards now invite visitors to engage with a piece of regional history.