Master Sibrand - Meister
Sibrand
Master Sibrand (Meister Sibrand, Magister Sibrandus) was the founder of
the hospital in Akkon, which was to become the nucleus of the Teutonic Knights. For this reason, he is sometimes considered
the "first grand master" of that order, even if it was only given recognition in 1192, and transformed into a military
order in 1198. Sibrand had travelled to Outremer in 1188, in the Third Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa, as a follower
of Adolf III of Holstein. Sibrand is mentioned
as the founder of that hospital in a document by king Guy of Lusignan dated to September 1190. The field hospital was operated for German troops during the siege of Akkon. Such a hospital had been set up and operated by merchants of
Bremen and Lübeck, near the cemetery of St. Nicholas, using a sail for shelter. After the conquest of Akkon, Guy
gave to Sibrand a house in the city, the Armenian hospital, where the German hospital found more permanent quarters.
" Helfen - Wehren - Heilen "
