What associations arise in your mind when you mention the almshouse? Probably not the most rosy. Despite the fact that the meaning of this word is not known to everyone today, the memory of generations has graciously preserved for us a subconscious attitude to such a phenomenon.
Modern understanding
For today's man, an almshouse is a place inhabited by people, to put it mildly, not of the highest affluence. As a rule, such a designation is used in the modern world as part of stable phrases such as “divorced an almshouse”, and such expressions act in situations that are at least unpleasant.
In fact, the almshouse is not a society without principles and not even a cluttered room. Initially, the meaning of the word was completely different, but over time it gradually became lost and transformed, as is the case with lexemes, meaning phenomena that disappear in reality.
Let us first turn to the word
If you look closely at the structure of the word itself, you can see an interesting feature in it: one of its roots is common with the word god. Skeptics may argue that this is a mere coincidence. And the meaning of the word "almshouse" is in no way connected with the Almighty, and they will be completely wrong in this respect.
One version
As mentioned earlier, the initial meaning of this concept was completely different and did not have a negative semantic color at all. If you believe the story, an almshouse is just a shelter for the homeless, the elderly and the disabled. Such people received a roof over their heads, food and necessary assistance in general.
A shelter for homeless people is not the most profitable institution, and therefore, most often they were organized on charitable foundations and mainly with numerous churches. So the root “god” appeared in the word .
Alternative option
There is, however, another explanation for this slightly strange name. According to some sources, an almshouse is not exactly a shelter for homeless people, but a cross between a nursing home and a modern hospice. It is easy to assume that in institutions of this kind, people mostly lived out their last days.
Since the world at that time was much more religious, faith in the afterlife was unshakable. As you know, the same Christian doctrine provides for only two options for places where a person can go after death: hell and paradise. In the second case, it is assumed that the exhausted old man or the seriously ill goes to God - in a sense, such people were equated with holy fools, who, as you know, were considered sinless. Hence, over time, the expression “to do God” came, which later became a concrete designation of a place.
Who contained places of this kind
For quite some time it was believed that this last refuge for many was a charitable institution, and therefore, the practice of donations still took place. Nevertheless, funds for the normal maintenance of institutions of this kind were often lacking, and the conditions in the almshouses were, to put it mildly, not the most comfortable.
Something Not About Charity
It is worth noting that unsanitary conditions and the lack of minimal comfort were not always characteristic of such institutions. In the time of the Peter and Catherine’s epoch, an almshouse is not so much a place where the suffering and needy can always be received, but a way to solve a rather acute social problem. The development and increase of the marginal stratum of society at that time was simply unacceptable, and therefore the authorities themselves were interested in creating and supporting such institutions. The noble principle was thus associated with pure pragmatism.
If earlier any almshouse was a place sponsored by the board, after the Zemstvo and city reforms, this obligation fell on public self-government. At first, this was a rather big step forward, as new social organizations began to appear , and the desire to prevent the impoverishment of the people was extremely strong.
Patronage of institutions of this kind was divided between the royal family, the public, the church and ministries. Perhaps, it is precisely the period of the beginning of the twentieth century in relation to almshouses and other institutions of this kind can be called the most favorable.
Once again about the difference in understanding
As can be seen from all of the above, the understanding of the very name of this organization has undergone a significant change. To date, the expression "send to an almshouse" does not bode well for a person, and nobody wants to "raise an almshouse" at all. The original meaning of the mentioned phrases was almost diametrically opposite for the possessing and suffering person.
It is noteworthy that the almshouses themselves did not disappear anywhere, but only changed their name to a more modern one - the hospice. And, if there are no particular questions with them and orphanages, then sending to the almshouse the beggars, sleeping on the streets and train stations would be a good and noble act.