[Mrs. Popp - and all the others: the first patients admitted to the Kommunehospital in Copenhagen on the opening day September 19, 1863].

The gates of the Kommunehospital in Copenhagen opened for the first time on September 19th, 1863. It is recorded that on this day 89 patients were admitted to the hospital. These patients have been subdivided according to occupation, their own or that of the family, as it was recorded on admission. The occupational groups are: journeymen, workers, seamen, servants, self-supporting and paupers. Most of the patients are men, reflecting the fact that on the opening day only male patients were moved from Almindelig Hospital that the new Kommunehospital was to replace. Most of the patients came from the working class, a few belonged to the middle-class. That was the general trend at Danish hospitals in the 1860s. The case records provide information about hospital life and about social conditions in 1863, as regards work and family life. According to an article in the 125 year's Anniversary publication of the hospital, the first patient admitted was a widow Mrs. Popp, who suffered from eczema. This study has shown that probably the first patient was a mate by the name of Frits Nygaard. He suffered from smallpox and was admitted already on the 9th of August to the isolation-house, which was taken into use before the official opening of the hospital.