18 stories from the Christophorus Hospice

I will never forget them - the people I met at the Christophorus Hospice, their stories, their faces, the way they spent their last days in this world and the way they left this world, this body. The atmosphere of the hospice is also still very much alive in me: a peaceful, friendly place that gave people space, let them be. Havelhöhe, Berlin. The delivery room was directly below us. New parents with their babies and people in the last days of their lives with their relatives often met each other. Beginnings and ends, intense situations.

Even the journey to Havelhöhe, early in the morning or late in the evening: the bus ride from Zoo station to Kladow, over various branches of the Havel, past sunflower fields, forests, in summer and winter, the smell of the city gives way to the scent of earth, forest... the grounds of the large clinic, the Wannsee, the pines with their resinous scent, the meadows, the bathing areas, sailing boat clubs, allotments... Sometimes it is strange places that leave an unexpectedly strong impression in our memory and we only notice it afterwards.

The hospice: wide corridors, spacious rooms, the forest behind the windows. No televisions, instead soft colors on the walls. No fake, cheerful coffee mornings, no activities aimed at repressing the topic of death as much as possible, but also no forcing of conversations. Give space. Laughter, humor, attention, heavy, very physical things and unexpectedly light, happy things...

From 2008 to 2012 I worked as a nurse at the Christophorus Hospice. At that time, 18 stories about people I met there were written and

Soon available here as an e-book.