Asylum for the Insane

At the end of the 19th century, when the conditions in the local prison, which had been built almost 100 years earlier, became unbearable because of prisoners and patients with mental illness having to share the same space, the authorities decided to build a hospital for the insane which was opened in the early 20th century.

The director, a young man in his early 30s, had a good reputation in the treatment of people with mental illnesses, but he commited suicide after only ten years. His body was found in the nearby lake, after the medical association had gotten knowledge of his relationship with the head nurse.

During World War I, the number of patients decreased until only about haf of the original number of patiens were being treated.

The free space was converted and used as a children's hiome and baby nursery.

When in World War II the Wehrmacht began using another hospital in the region to accomodate soldiers and for civil defense, more and more patients from there were moved to this facility. Some of them were then moved into ather hospitals.

Under the Nazi's euthanasia program, this asylum was a station on the way to the "killing center" at Bernburg for many of the victims.

By the decree of a minister, the asylum was used as a tuberculosis sanatorium since 1943. The remaining patients with mental illness were moved to other hospitals.

At the end of World War II, Soviet troops occupied the area and used it until 1993.

Gallery Update! New photos added from a visit on October 22, 2016.