Kaufbeuren Lunatic Asylum
| Kaufbeuren Lunatic Asylum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opened | 1849 |
| Closed | 1972 |
| Current Status | Preserved |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | Kaufbeuren, Bavaria |
| Alternate Names |
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History[edit]
In 1812 accommodation for a parish priest and local officials was set up in the monastery buildings at Cloister Irsee. From 1849 the premises were used as an asylum and hospital for the mentally ill. By 1876 the Irsee Asylum becomes part of the new regional mental care facility in Kaufbeuren.
During World War 2, more than 2000 patients [adults and children] from Kaufbeuren/Irsee are deported to extermination facilities, die upon order of a fat free starvation diet [E-diet] or are directly killed as a result of injections and overdoses of medications. 221 children died in the special children's ward in Kaufbeuren and Irsee. Dr. Faltlhauser collaborated with another doctor in conducting tuberculosis experiments on children in the Kinderfachabteilung, of whom the majority died as a consequence.
By 1972 The Irsee division for psychically ill is disbanded. The last patients leave the house. The local authority of the district of Schwaben began the restoration of the buildings in 1974, which opened as the Schwäbische Tagungs- und Bildungszentrum Kloster Irsee ("Kloster Irsee Swabian Conference and Training Centre") in 1984.
