
Charity Christmas bazaar raises record amount
January 14, 2025. From November 22-24, 2024, the traditional Christmas bazaar was held for the sixth time at St. Franziskus-Hospital with handicrafts made by five Hospital Sisters and some of the hospital’s staff. With proceeds of 9200 euros, the record from the previous year was once again exceeded. The money was donated to two projects at St. Franziskus Hospital, helping babies and young families.
Together with the head physician of the Clinic for General Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, PD Dr. Michael Böswald, and those responsible for the supported projects, the Commercial Director of St. Franziskus Hospital, Dr. David Lewers, warmly thanked the organizers of the bazaar: “This fantastic donation will help us to continue and steadily improve the important and increasingly sought-after support for mothers and families in need.”

The Sisters who contribute a large part of the handicrafts to the annual bazaar have been a well-rehearsed team for a long time: They live and work together at the Motherhouse of the Hospital Sisters, in “St. Elisabeth” flat (from left to right): Sister M. Beatinis Thünemann, Sister M. Rainette Schwager, Sister M. Leonardi Reiter, Sister M. Vera Lütkebohmert and Sister M. Stephanie Müller.
“For us, the bazaar is never over; it’s always starting again,” says Sister Vera. “We work towards the November date all year round.” The Sisters have even specialized so that they can offer a wide range of products: Sister Vera mainly knits socks for adults as well as scarves and slipovers, while Sister Stephanie is particularly good at knitting baby socks. Sister Leonardi, who was Head of Physiotherapy at St. Franziskus Hospital for many years, is known for her crocheted therapy balls. But just like Sister Beatinis, she also knits and crochets many wrist warmers, cuffs, scarves and socks in a wide variety of colors and shapes – there are no limits to their creativity. This is also because the Sisters are often given wool as gifts. “Last year, we received a whole van full of wool as a donation,” reports Sister Vera. ”We are delighted and very grateful because this saves us the cost of materials.”



Sister Rainette, on the other hand, prefers to use scissors and paper: she patiently and lovingly creates wonderful Christmas decorations. “For each of my gold stars, for example, I cut out seven individual stars in different sizes, which are then glued together with small adhesive blocks,” she explains. Her large folded paper stars are also a big seller.

The great success of the bazaar has once again shown that the Sisters’ creative efforts are worthwhile and appreciated by many people in Muenster. The Sisters agree: “The greatest success for us is that we can help many babies and young families with the proceeds of the bazaar.” And this is what keeps them going all year.