|
Palace
The palace of Hartheim lies on the southeastern edge of the Eferding Basin in
the heartland of Upper Austria. It is one of the most important Renaissance
buildings in the province. It was built in 1600, by Jakob Aspan with an arcaded
courtyard and donated to the Upper Austrian Charity Association by Camillo,
Prince of Starhemberg in 1898 to be used for charitable
purposes.
 |
The Association turned it into an institute for persons with
several disabilities and the mentally handicapped which was run by the sisters
of the Order of St. Vincent of Paul.
|
In 1938/9, the palace was confiscated by the
National Socialists and turned into a Euthanasia Institute. The farming section
continued as before. The handicapped, who lived here, previously were
transferred to other institutions, only to be murdered here at a later date.
Between 1940 and 1944, some 30 000 people were murdered in Hartheim Palace,
who were classified as “unworthy” by the National Socialists. In 1944/5, the
interior of the Euthanasia Institute was dismantled and every attempt made to
return the palace to its original state.
Immediately after the war, the palace housed refugees.
In 1948, the palace and the farm were returned to the Upper Austrian Charity
Association but the situation did not allow new work with the handicapped within
the palace.
After the Danube floods of 1954, those who had lost their homes were settled
into the palace. At this stage there were some 30 people renting rooms in the
palace.
In 1968, the Charity Association was successful in restarting their work
for the handicapped here: the Institute of Hartheim was erected near the palace.
The institute and its supportive organisation, the Upper Austrian
Charity Association (now GSI: Society for Social Iniatives) were aware of the fact
that the memory of the NS victims should be kept alive and erected a memorial in
the palace in 1969. The Charity Association saw the new institute as “a living
expiation for the victims of Hartheim”.
In the course of the following years, there was a growing consciousness as
to the contradictive aspect of having people living in the palace and the
palace’s particular past. In 1995, the Hartheim Society was founded and in 1997, the
Provincial Administration decided to turn Hartheim into an educational and
memorial centre. In 1999, the people renting rooms in the palace were
reallocated and work began on renovating the palace.
After extensive refurbishing and renovation work
was completed in the years 2002 and 2003, executed by Hartheim Ltd., and
financed by the Provincial Administration of Upper Austria and the Federal
Government, the palace now serves as an educational and memorial centre. It is
home to the exhibition “THE VALUE OF LIFE”.
|
