[Michael Fischer (1887-1948)--life and work of an important founder of Catholic nursing in Germany].

In 1919, Michael Fischer OSC was appointed to the German charity union "Zentrale des Deutschen Caritasverbandes" (DCV) in Freiburg. He assumed his duties as the acting manager and general secretary for the German catholic union of health institutions "Verband Katholischer Kranken- und Pflegeanstalten". For nearly twenty years, he was involved in expanding and strengthening this specialized organisation. For more than a decade, Michael Fischer influenced catholic medical care in Germany by holding lectures; on the whole, he published the medical welfare journal "Krankendienst" as well as fifteen specialized books and more than five hundred articles in different journals, which were essential. For all his efforts, his enormous engagement, historical health research has ignored him until now. The following essay is meant to give insight into his life and works and pays tribute to his importance in nursing care.