KJND Won't Help a Sick Child: Hamburg's Real Numbers for Night and Weekend Emergencies

KJND Is Real, and It’s Not Where You Call for a Fever

Start with the trap, because getting this wrong burns exactly the time you don’t have. Search “Kindernotdienst Hamburg” at 2am with a feverish toddler, and the result you’re most likely to land on is the Kinder- und Jugendnotdienst (KJND), reachable at 040 428 15 32 00 from its Feuerbergstraße 43 address in Ohlsdorf. It runs every hour of every day, “Tag und Nacht,” but it exists for a completely different emergency than yours. According to hamburg.de’s own KJND pages and the Hamburg police force’s summary, KJND is Hamburg’s central crisis-response service for children and teenagers facing neglect, abuse, mistreatment, or family conflict severe enough that a child needs somewhere safe right now, backed by 36 emergency shelter places and a separate Mädchenhaus for girls 13 and up. It’s staffed by social workers trained in child protection and crisis intervention. It is not staffed by pediatricians, and it does not triage medical symptoms.

Here’s the detail that says more than any warning label could: Hamburg’s own health authority, the Behörde für Gesundheit, Soziales und Integration, publishes an official leaflet titled “Was tun, wenn ich krank bin?” (What to do when I’m sick), current to 13 May 2026. It walks through 116117, the dedicated children’s Notfallpraxen, the ambulance number 112, and the poison hotline in careful detail. KJND is never mentioned on it, not once. The two systems, child protection and medical care, are kept structurally and administratively separate in Hamburg, and this page exists so you don’t have to discover that the hard way at 2am.

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Four Notfallpraxen, Two Different Schedules

Hamburg’s health authority names exactly four dedicated Notfallpraxen für Kinder, walk-in practices specifically for children rather than the separate adult Notfallpraxis network, and they don’t all run on the same clock. Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus and Kinderkrankenhaus Wilhelmstift both confirm the same schedule directly on their own hospital sites: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 19:00 to 22:00; Wednesday and Friday 16:00 to 22:00; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 9:00 to 22:00. Helios Mariahilf Klinik and Asklepios Klinik Nord, Heidberg, only staff their pediatric Notfallpraxis on weekends and public holidays, according to the official Merkblatt, leaving ordinary weeknights to the two Kinderkrankenhaus locations alone. No appointment is needed at any of the four, and your child’s insurance card covers the visit exactly like a normal appointment.

1. 1 Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus, Bleickenallee 38, 22763 Hamburg (Altona). Mon/Tue/Thu 19:00-22:00, Wed/Fri 16:00-22:00, Sat/Sun/holidays 9:00-22:00. Also has its own 24/7 Zentrale Notaufnahme (ZNA).
2. 2 Kinderkrankenhaus Wilhelmstift, Liliencronstraße 130, 22149 Hamburg (Rahlstedt). Same schedule as above, plus its own 24/7 emergency department.
3. 3 Helios Mariahilf Klinik, Stader Straße 203c, 21075 Hamburg (Harburg). Weekends and public holidays only, no weekday evening service.
4. 4 Asklepios Klinik Nord, Heidberg, Tangstedter Landstraße 400, 22417 Hamburg (Langenhorn). Weekends and public holidays only.
5. 5 KJND, Feuerbergstraße 43, 22337 Hamburg (Ohlsdorf). Child protection crisis line, 24/7, explicitly not for medical emergencies.

When Even the Notfallpraxis Can’t Wait: The Hospital’s Own Emergency Department

Because Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus and Wilhelmstift are full children’s hospitals, not just scheduled walk-in clinics, both maintain their own around-the-clock pediatric emergency department underneath the Notfallpraxis schedule above. At Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus, this is the Zentrale Notaufnahme (ZNA), and the hospital states directly that it “ist rund um die Uhr geöffnet” (is open around the clock), with registration handled at the ZNA itself rather than through the scheduled Notfallpraxis hours. This matters on, say, a Sunday at 3am, well outside even the generous 9:00 to 22:00 weekend Notfallpraxis window: the Notfallpraxis is closed, but the hospital behind it isn’t. Hamburg’s own guidance is equally direct about the general fallback if your situation allows it: you can drive to any hospital and its Not- und Unfallversorgung (emergency and accident care) will treat you, though the leaflet is candid that wait times there tend to run longer than at a dedicated Notfallpraxis. Calling 116117 before you go anywhere is still the better first move in a non-life-threatening situation, since staff can confirm whether a visit is genuinely needed tonight and point you to the right location rather than the nearest one.

What KJND Actually Handles, So the Right Number Reaches the Right Help

None of this is meant to make KJND sound like a service to ignore, only a service to call for the right reason. According to KJND’s own pages for parents and the Hamburg police force’s overview, it exists precisely for the situations 116117 and the Notfallpraxen can’t help with: a child facing neglect, physical or emotional abuse, or mistreatment; a child or teenager who has run away and needs a safe place tonight; or a parent whose conflict with their child has escalated into a genuine crisis they can’t manage alone. It answers “Tag und Nacht,” day and night, every day of the year, and can arrange one of 36 short-term emergency shelter places on the spot, or, specifically for girls aged 13 and up from any cultural background, a place at the attached Mädchenhaus. If you or someone you know ever needs that kind of help, 040 428 15 32 00 is exactly the right number to have. It’s only the wrong number when the emergency is a fever, a cough, or a fall, which is the one confusion this page exists to prevent.

Step by Step

1. Decide if it's genuinely life-threateningIf yes, call 112 immediately and skip everything below.
2. If it's urgent but not life-threatening, call 116117 firstDescribe the symptoms and let trained staff direct you to phone advice, a Notfallpraxis, or an emergency department.
3. Never call 040 428 15 32 00 (KJND) for a medical problemThat number belongs to Hamburg's child protection service, not to any doctor.
4. Weekday evening: head to Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus or WilhelmstiftThe only two Notfallpraxen für Kinder open Monday through Friday evenings; no appointment needed.
5. Weekend or public holiday: any of the 4 Notfallpraxen für Kinder is open 9:00-22:00Confirm current hours at Arztruf Hamburg's Notfallpraxis-Suche before you go.
6. Can't wait, or it's the middle of the night with nothing scheduled open?Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus and Wilhelmstift each run their own 24/7 emergency department (ZNA).
7. Suspected poisoningCall the Giftinformationszentrum-Nord at 0551 19240, available around the clock in German or English.
8. Bring the basicsYour child's Gesundheitskarte and, if you have one, the yellow U-Heft with vaccination and growth history.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general structure of Hamburg’s pediatric emergency and on-call services, but exact hours, staffing, and phone numbers can change. For a genuine emergency, always call 112 rather than relying on information from this page, and confirm current Notfallpraxis hours directly with Arztruf Hamburg, 116117, or the hospital in question.