Around the castle

The Hartheim Institute was reopened in 1968 under the patronage of the Upper Austrian State Charitable Association as the successor institution to the home for people with disabilities that was operated in the castle from 1898 to 1940. The organisation had been expropriated and dissolved in 1938 and then reactivated soon after the defeat of National Socialism in 1945.

With its branches in central Upper Austria, the Hartheim Institute today enjoys a reputation as a centre of excellence for the care and support of people with intellectual and multiple disabilities. In 2000 the Upper Austrian State Charitable Association was renamed Gesellschaft für soziale Initiativen (Society for Social Initiatives).

You can find further information on the website: www.institut-hartheim.at.

The Hartheim Institute also includes the following institutions, which operate in the immediate vicinity of the castle:

A permanent exhibition with selected works from the art brut collection of the Upper Austrian State Gallery has been installed In Café Lebenswert, directly next to Hartheim Castle – Place for Learning and Remembrance. It can be visited during the opening hours of Café Lebenswert. Directly connected is a shop selling handcrafted products from the workshops of the Hartheim Institute. In the art studio next to the café, numerous works of art are constantly being created by people with disabilities, which can also be purchased in the shop.

CAFÉ LEBENSWERT / Art Collection / SHOP / ART STUDIO
Arkadenweg 2
4072 Alkoven
Telefon: +43 7274 6536-542
Mail: cafe-lebenswert(at)institut-hartheim.at
http://www.cafe-lebenswert.at

Opening hours

Monday to Thursday from 9.30am to 3.15pm
Friday from 9.30am to 12.15pm

In what was once the domestic wing of the castle, today there is an event hall with modern equipment. It offers space for 225 people on the ground floor and 69 in the gallery. When meals are served at table, the hall can seat 220 people if the stage area is used.

For more information, please contact the parish of Alkoven at: +43 (7274) 80 00 – 0 or gemeinde(at)alkoven.ooe.gv.at