Johanniter Order / Intergalactic Assistance / ERESSEA

[ Under construction ]
(Knights Hospitaller on Steam)

Foundation

The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint Johannis of Jerusalem (Latin: Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), also known as the Order of Saint John, Order of Hospitallers, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Hospitalier or Hospitallers, Johanniter Order, Johanniterorden or Johanniter, was a medieval Christian military order.

The Hospitallers arose at the time of the great monastic reformation, as a group of individuals, founded around 1023 by Grand Master Gerard to provide care for sick, poor or injured pilgrims coming to the Holy Land.

They built a hospice (dedicated to Saint John the Baptist) near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The hospice was open not only to members of the Christian community but also to whomever might have need of treatment and sustenance, regardless of creed.

When fundamentalist religious fervour prevailed over a more healthy spirituality and led to the Crusades, the “Hospitallers” took on the role of defenders in addition to their humanitarian efforts, thus becoming a military Order in addition to a charitable one.

In 1104 the Hospitaller Order was recognized as an international organization by Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem.

In 1113, Pope Pasqual II gave his official approval to the Order with the Bull “Piæ Postulatio”. The Order thus became known as the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem and took as their emblem an eight-pointed cross (as there are eight Beatitudes).

Deus Vult

While the age of crusading, the Knights Hospitaller soon extended their initially tasks by the task of the defence of their hospitals, the pilgrims and they began to provide military aid to the other Knight Orders and local Christian Lords and Kings.

With the fall of the Holy Land, the banishment and disbanding of the Templar Order, the Knights Hospitaller were the only Knights Order which was still active and fighting for the Christianity.
When the crusaders were driven off the Holy Land, the Knights Hospitaller had still a mighty Stronghold on the island Rhodos, from where they put their focus on naval-activites. Although the huge Muslim armies tried over and over again to conquer the island, they had never success. Over 200 years the Knights Hospitaller did hold the island. But 1522, after another siege, which took 6 months, both parties realized, that this situation cannot last for ever. And so they came to an agreement, which passed Rhodos to the Muslims, and in return they granted free-departure to the Knights Hospitaller.

From Rhodos they moved to Malta, and when the Ottomans tried to conquer Italy and Rome, they decided to get rid of the Knights Hospitaller first, once and for all. But just like at Rhodos, they run from one defeat to another and so they eventually withdrawed from Italy and the invasion was stopped before it really started.

Malta was their home for a very long time, until they were forced by Napoleon Bonaparte, on his campaign to Egypt 1798, to abandon the island.
From Malta they moved to Rome and stopped their military activies. Instead of that, they put their focus on their initial tasks; especially to help the poor and sick.

Time of Charity

[ Placeholder ]

Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe has bound itself to Christian charity. As a work of the Order of St John it sees its challenge in the needs and dangers of the people. The central motivation is humanitarian aid.

The statutory tasks of JUH include

• Training: Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe participates in public first aid training, e.g. for driving licence candidates, for companies, etc., as well as in the special training of nurses and emergency medical technicians.
• Emergency medical service: JUH operates 210 ambulance stations in Germany which are equipped with patient transport ambulances, emergency ambulances and emergency physician vehicles.
• Civil defence and disaster relief: this task involves the response to major disasters. JUH therefore mans vehicles and stations provided by the federal and state governments of Germany. These tasks are mainly handled by voluntary personnel, e.g. all search and rescue dog squadrons are based on volunteers. JUH also maintains a network of crisis intervention and post-trauma support teams.
• Social care: Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe provide care for children and youths (also by training student first responders at schools), for disabled and elderly persons. They operate social centres, kindergartens, stationary institutions for the elderly, medical alarms and provide meals on wheels. In 2005 the first stationary hospice was established and furthermore ambulatory hospice is provided. Moreover, JUH engages in caring for dementia patients and the support of relatives.
• International aid: the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John is engaged in 30 countries of the world. Medical treatment is thereby based on the experience of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe in Germany. This brings about the core tasks of JUH abroad: medical relief in response to disasters, support in restoring civilian everyday life in crisis areas, establishing health care, medical training and skill enhancement, fighting of infectious diseases and epidemia, and orthopaedic treatment for disabled persons and war casualties. The focus remains on basic health care for people in areas affected by disasters and otherwise aggrieved regions of the world. Together with Cyprus Civil Defense the European Technical Assistance Cooperation ist formed. Its purpose is to operate a Technical Assistance and Support Team.

Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. is a registered charity association in accordance with German law. It is an association within Diakonisches Werk of the Evangelical Church in Germany and is an acknowledged voluntary relief organisation in accordance with article 26 the first Geneva convention of 12 August 1949.

Modern Age

[ Needs polishing ]

As members of the Johanniter Intergalactic Assistance we are committed to the principles of the Johanniter Order. Our assistance is aimed at all people regardless of their religion, nationality and culture and is not governed by any political interests.

In the course of our intergalactic humanitarian work, we pledge ourselves to responsible and cooperative action. We stand up for our decisions and endeavour to fulfil our duties to the best of our abilities. Respect and integrity define the cooperative relationship with our public and private donors, employees and project partners.

We hold different cultures and people in high regard and strive to act primarily in accordance with the needs of those receiving our aid.

It is our goal to enable people to survive in dignity and reduce their vulnerability and that of their communities – throughout humanitarian crisis and immediately after a disaster. To strengthen people’s resilience, we place an emphasis on providing health care, improving water, sanitation and hygiene, combating malnutrition, securing livelihoods and military support in case of need.

We set ourselves realistic objectives against which our activities can be measured and we use our resources with foresight. We pay equal attention to the social, economic and environmental consequences of our work.

Decision-making processes and structures are being constantly reviewed and improved. Uniform quality standards and regular audits ensure our professionalism.