Beginnings as "Mobile Bird Aid"
Today's Swift Clinic began in 1994 as "Mobile Bird Aid" and as a dream of having its own care and reception station under veterinary direction. The model and vision – once much ridiculed, nowadays already within the realm of possibility! – was and is the Falcon Hospital in the Emirate of Dubai (Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital).
The founder of the Swift Clinic, Christiane Haupt, completed an internship in the summer of 1990 and 1991 at the state-recognised wildlife reception and care station of Ingeborg Polaschek near Gelnhausen/Hesse and learned here, above all, the proper handling of wild bird patients of various species. When Mrs Polaschek had to close her care station in 1992 for health reasons, the path was clear for Christiane Haupt: She changed from her then profession as a freelance graphic designer and began to study veterinary medicine. Goal: competent treatment of birds, especially wild birds!
Even during the first years of study, Christiane Haupt always commuted between her place of residence Frankfurt and the university town Gießen with numerous containers full of feathered foster children. These were the beginnings of "Mobile Bird Aid". During lectures, tits, sparrows, blackbirds, starlings and swifts were fed. When there were too many to carry around constantly, the anatomy professor's office became an asylum for the bird children.
More and more, Christiane Haupt specialised in swifts. Some crashed young swifts, helpless, half starved. Then an injured adult swift. One look into the enigmatic dark eyes was enough – a passion was born. Help – but how? Word quickly spread that someone here was now caring for swifts. And so more and more patients came, from everywhere. During the cramming for the veterinary degree: feed, phone calls, feed, treat injuries, feed, X-ray, feed – The state examination already took place with 32 swifts in tow, waiting next door for their next feeding!
The Swift Care Station
In 1998, right after the end of the final exams, the number of swift patients finally exceeded what was still transportable. The summer of 1998 became the first season of the swift care station at a fixed address. It was Christiane Haupt's private address, a 35 sqm small basement apartment. It would burst at the seams in the coming four years – year after year, the small volunteer swift station in Frankfurt am Main recorded more patients: While there were still 13 in 1994, 51 in 1995, 56 in 1996 and already 101 swifts in 1997, a total of 163 swifts were admitted in 1998. The year 1999 finally broke the limits of what a single person could still manage with 234 swift patients. Stop? Unthinkable. All that remained and remains is to forge ahead!
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mauersegler e.V. – Founding of an Association
Occasionally helpers appeared, often recruited from the clientele that Christiane Haupt treated in parallel at her bird consultation at the renowned Frankfurt small animal clinic of Dr. med. vet. Volker Hach. In terms of personnel and finances, the swift station faced disaster day after day. Always at the last minute, things somehow continued, not least through the founding of the association "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mauersegler e.V.", which became the sponsor of the institution. Then, in 2002, came the end: In Christiane Haupt's basement apartment, the work of the swift station could no longer be continued under humane and bird-worthy conditions. The desperate search for new premises and their financing began.
State-recognised Reception and Care Station for Swifts
All efforts remained unsuccessful. Once again, rescue at the last minute: The previous landlord made a 65 sqm apartment in Frankfurt-Griesheim available for an acceptable rent. Makeshift renovation and furnishing were carried out by the volunteer helpers of the station in record time before the 2003 season began in new and larger premises. Here the now nationally and even internationally known institution, which was also officially recognised in 2005, was housed until March 2012. There is a bird room, a training room, a combined office/operating room, kitchen, bathroom, hallway and cellar.
But already in 2004/2005 it became apparent that these rooms were also far too small for the onslaught of patients and the expanded number of helpers. Once again, new, larger premises of at least 100-120 sqm would be urgently needed for the institution now established as the Swift Clinic....
Into the Future on 180 sqm: The Frankfurt Swift Clinic
In 2012, the time had finally come. After a long, intensive search, the seemingly impossible succeeded: Not far from the old station, 180 sqm of affordable and, to top it all, clinic-suitable premises opened up. Thanks to many hardworking hands, they were renovated and furnished in a short time and in time for the start of the season.
The training room has since offered sufficient space for flying. The significantly larger bird room allows the installation of additional feeding stations, so that even during the main season, new feeding helpers can be trained. The kitchen offers enough space for freezers with swift food and even a small seating area for rest. Office and operating room are finally separate and patient intake no longer takes place "on the fly".
The catchment area of the feathered patients has long been national, and for several years international cooperation, especially with other European bird protection and animal welfare organisations, has been increasing. A place in the Swift Clinic is particularly sought after for patients who need feather restoration. In 2017, an Alpine swift in Israel could be released back into the wild after treatment. Usually between 700 and 800 patients are treated per year; in 2012 there were over 800. In June 2018, the 12,000th patient was admitted; most patients are juvenile and adult swifts, followed by several Alpine and Pallid swifts annually.