Skip to main content

Primary sourceBook1851

The Institution of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, for the Practical Training of Deaconesses

Florence Nightingale · 1851

Nightingale's first publication, issued anonymously in 1851, describing the nursing training that changed the course of her life.

This was Nightingale's first publication, recording the Kaiserswerth training she later called the turning point of her life.

Ask Florence Nightingale about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Title page of a printed booklet: 'The Institution of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, for the Practical Training of Deaconesses, under the direction of the Rev. Pastor Fliedner'. Handwritten inscriptions in ink at the top and right edge, and a handwritten note near the bottom. Printed in London in 1851 by the London Ragged Colonial Training School.
Florence Nightingale (anonymous), The Institution of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, 1851.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed booklet from 1851 describing the Kaiserswerth institution on the Rhine, directed by Pastor Fliedner, which trained deaconesses in practical nursing. It was Florence Nightingale's first published work, originally issued without naming her as author.

Why it matters

Nightingale had trained at Kaiserswerth herself, and she saw it as a turning point in her life, proving that women could be properly trained to do serious, skilled nursing work. Publishing anonymously reflects how difficult it still was for a woman of her class to put her name to writing about nursing as a profession. The booklet's opening reflections on the limited opportunities open to English women show the social attitudes she was pushing against.

Look closer

  • Why might she have chosen to publish this anonymously rather than under her own name?
  • What does her comparison of women's 'intellectual' and 'practical' education tell you about the barriers she saw facing women?
  • What handwritten marks appear on the title page, and what might they tell us about who owned or read this copy?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Florence Nightingale on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Florence Nightingale sources

Meet the AI Florence Nightingale →
Polar area diagram titled 'Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East' with two rose charts of blue, red, and black wedges for April 1854 to March 1856, with explanatory notes below.Document

Primary source

Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East

Florence Nightingale · 1858

Pen and ink sketch of a large multi-gabled Tudor-style country house with tall chimneys, surrounded by trees and shrubs. Handwritten caption at bottom reads 'Embley, Hampshire' and 'Sketched by Florence Nightingale'.Painting

Primary source

Embley Park, Hampshire

Florence Nightingale · 1854

Artifact

Primary source

Recording of the voice of Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale · 1890

Pen-and-ink sketch of a hospital ward. A woman in a long dark dress stands at right beside a wounded man seated on a bed. Other patients lie in beds along the left, and more beds are visible through a doorway at right. Handwritten numbers appear at upper left.Painting

Primary source

Lithograph of Florence Nightingale, 1854

1854

Painting of a hospital hall at Scutari with a tall arched doorway opening onto a city view. A woman in a grey dress stands center-left among soldiers, Turkish-dressed figures, and officers. A wounded soldier lies on a stretcher while a kneeling man tends him. A soldier in red points toward the doorway.Painting

Secondary source

The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari

Jerry Barrett · 1857

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Florence Nightingale now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions