Szkic działalności opiekuńczo-wychowawczej ewangelickiej Misji Wewnętrznej w Gdańsku w I połowie XX w.

The Inner Mission in the evangelical church was an organized and diverse establishment for the provision of aid, which was dispensed by foundations, institutions, clergymen or lay people to all those who were in need because of life difficulties. Its work encompassed hospitals, shelters for travelers and the homeless, old people’s homes, children’s homes, youth hostels, kindergartens and also social care for prisoners, seamen, immigrants and other needful social groups. Its main motto was taken from evangelical words saying that faith without deeds is dead. It must be emphasised, however, that the central idea of the Mission was to link charity work with the evangelization of its charges. In Danzig, as in Germany, the beginning of the Inner Misssion stemmed from the mid-nineteenth century. It was strictly connected with the activities of the Diakon Sisters (Die Diakonissen), who were engaged in all its works. In Danzig the main foundation led by the sisters was the Diakons’ Maternal House and Hospital (Diakonissen Mutter und Krankenhaus). Here over four hundred sisters were trained for various Mission works and worked at a hospital which served people of all faiths and conditions. As the documents are scanty it is impossible to present a complete picture of all the Mission’s works. That is why this article is no more than a general study of its activities in Danzig. The most important foundations were: the Diakons’ Maternal House and Hospital, the Wiktoria Augusta Foundation and Paulinum, the boys’ refuge.