French Monument
This monument was erected in 1950 – the first symbol of remembrance in Hartheim – by the Amicale de Mauthausen, in particular for the French victims from the Mauthausen-Gusen camp system. It is situated next to the castle garden on the northern side of the castle.
Resistance Monument
In 2003 the Alkoven local authority erected a monument to Ignaz Schuhmann and Leopold Hilgarth, two local victims of the resistance against the National Socialist regime. The monument was placed near the entrance to the castle grounds, not far from the Schuhmann family farmhouse. It was designed by Herbert Friedl.
Memorial Stone by the Danube
In 2001, on the initiative of the Hartheim Castle Society, a memorial stone was erected on the bank of the Danube between Brandstatt and Wilhering, near the village of Gstocket (Alkoven district), at the place where the ashes of the murder victims were poured into the river. The inscription on the massive Danube stone comes from the Upper Austrian writer Franz Rieger: “The water erased the traces that memory preserves.” The stone stands at kilometre 2,148.5 of the river, Wendeplatz. The site can be reached via the access road to the Ottensheim/Wilhering Danube power station. From there it is around 1.75 km upstream along the towpath (pedestrian and cycle path).
Markings Ash finds Spring 2025
In March 2025, it was reported in the media that a large field of ashes containing burnt human remains had been discovered on the previously unexamined north and south sides of what is now the Hartheim Castle Learning and Memorial Centre. At a depth of approximately one metre, drilling revealed a layer of human ashes and bone remains covering an area of around 460 square metres. Ground radar surveys had previously been carried out in December 2024. The investigations were funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and supported by the province of Upper Austria.
The area of the finds in the south of Hartheim Castle covers approximately 350 square metres. The drill cores revealed pieces of brick, stones, pebbles, plaster, slag, fire residues and ash remains. This stratification is comparable to the findings on the north side and the findings from the 2002 excavation on the south side.
The newly discovered areas are to be included in the memorial and educational work and have now been surveyed and provisionally marked as a first step.
The new design and permanent marking of the sites will be discussed and planned in the near future. The current version is a first form of marking.
