Jewish Welfare Center

The roots of the institution go back to the "Israelite Asylum for the Sick and Elderly," originally established at Silvanstraße 10–12 in Köln-Altstadt-Süd and inaugurated on January 12, 1869. The building was founded through a donation from the five Eltzbacher brothers, who gifted the hospital in memory of their parents. It cared for poor, sick, and elderly people, providing free treatment to those who could demonstrate need.

Although Jewish in character, the institution was open to people of all faiths from the very beginning, and no one was to be compelled to participate in any religious practice. At times, up to 80 percent of patients were non-Jewish. The hospital's medical director from 1885 to 1935 was Privy Councillor Benjamin Auerbach, a well-known figure in Cologne.

After several expansions, the dense development of the Severinsviertel left no room for further growth. A donation of 270,000 marks from Ernest Cassel in 1901 made it possible to plan a new building. In 1902, the board of trustees acquired a roughly 21,550-square-meter plot in Neuehrenfeld, between Ottostraße, Nußbaumerstraße, and what would later become the Ehrenfeldgürtel — the site where the Welfare Center stands today.