Red Cross, German-style

The Württemberg Medical Association opens the first franchise of the relief agency

Fought in northern Italy, the battle of Solferino (1859) was so bloody that the Swiss Henry Dunant wrote a book about it to tell the world of the horror of war. Not only were many killed on the battlefield, but thousands more succumbed slowly to their wounds due to the lack of sanitary medical provision. In response, an international conference was held in Geneva in the autumn of 1863 to discuss the matter; half of the delegates came from the German Confederation. The conference resolved to set up neutral humanitarian societies in every country to protect war wounded and ensure that they received adequate medical care. All the helpers of this organization would be marked by a white armband with a red cross.

On 12 November 1863, the Württemberg Medical Association was founded in Stuttgart as the world’s first national aid society. As there was no German nation state at the time, the society functioned under the aegis of the Württemberg state. In addition to its wartime service, the society also resolved to train nursing staff and provide disaster relief in peace time. During the Weimar Republic, the Württemberg Medical Association amalgamated with other German medical relief groups to form the German Red Cross Association in 1921.