Bärenherz Stiftung

Because every minute of life is precious...

“There is no other place where families like us can say goodbye as well as here at Bärenherz,” explains a mother whose one-and-a-half-year-old son died at the Bärenherz children's hospice in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. She confirms that the facility, which was awarded the Bambi media prize in the commitment category in 2008, is a valuable support for families with children at risk of dying.

Accompanying your own child as they die is the worst thing that can happen to parents. Since its establishment in 2003, the Wiesbaden-based Bärenherz Foundation has made it its mission to be there for people who have to experience this borderline situation. It finances the two inpatient children's hospices in Wiesbaden, the only one in Hesse, and in Markkleeberg near Leipzig, as well as a long-term care facility for severely disabled children and young people in Heidenrod/Taunus through donations.

The Bärenherz Wiesbaden children's hospice was opened in 2002 as the second inpatient children's hospice in Germany and is still the only one in Hesse. Since then, children and young people up to the age of 18 with life-shortening illnesses have been cared for here. Not sterile and hospital white, but colorful and homely: this is the “Bärenherz” in Wiesbaden. Since 2002, more than 330 children and their families have found a place here where they have received comprehensive care, optimum nursing and loving comfort from the day of their shocking diagnosis until after their death. 365 days a year.

Not only the sick children, but also their families are offered a special place to stay at Bärenherz. Parents' apartments offer the opportunity to stay close to the sick child free of charge. Around the clock, 40 employees provide palliative care and therapeutic and educational services for the young patients as well as holistic grief counseling for parents and siblings.

The Bärenherz children's hospice needs around 1.7 million euros a year. Around one third of the facility's ongoing funding comes from health and care insurance companies and two thirds from donations. Without the help of the Bärenherz Foundation, the facility would have to close.

“We cannot erase death from our lives, nor can we erase the death of children. But we can offer a shelter in a family's most difficult life situation that offers understanding, closeness, help and empathy - for the whole family and without distinction of social or cultural background,” says Claudia Langanki, head of the Bärenherz children's hospice, and knows just how special the Bärenherz in Wiesbaden is. Unlike many people expect, the focus here is on life, not death. “We live together, we laugh, we have fun together. We are sad, we cry and we comfort each other. Life and death are inseparable and find a home with us. No one is alone, there is someone to talk to around the clock, loving care and the feeling of being understood. We create a relative normality without time pressure, without white coats, without tight planning. The needs of the children and families are the most important thing.” Langanki and her team continue to care for the families even after the child has died, if this is desired. “If a child comes to us in the morning and dies in the evening, they have lived with us for a day,” she says, summarizing what characterizes everyday life at the Bärenherz children's hospice.