The Sanatorium Purkersdorf was built as a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Purkersdorf Purkersdorf is a municipality in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. The Sandstein-Wienerwald natural park, a part of the Vienna Woods, is situated on its territory. The municipality belonged to Wi ...

Wien-Umgebung Bezirk Wien-Umgebung was a district of the state of Lower Austria in Austria. The district comprised four non-contiguous districts on the outer fringes of Vienna: Klosterneuburg and Gerasdorf to the north of the city, Schwechat to its south-east ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. It was built in 1904-05 by the architect

Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann (15 December 1870 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrian- Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architectural work is the Stoclet P ...

for the industrialist Victor Zuckerkandl and is an example of the style of the

Viennese Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

in architecture.

Sanatorium

Zuckerkandl, the general director of the

Silesian Iron Work of Gliwice Silesian as an adjective can mean anything from or related to Silesia. As a noun, it refers to an article, item, or person of or from Silesia. Silesian may also refer to: People and languages *Silesians, inhabitants of Silesia, either a West Sla ...

, purchased the property at the city border of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1903. It was acquired as a "mineral spa together with cure-park." Since the 19th Century a mineral spring bubbled on the property. The original furnishings were made by the

Wiener Werkstätte The Wiener Werkstätte (engl.: ''Vienna Workshop''), established in 1903 by the graphic designer and painter Koloman Moser, the architect Josef Hoffmann and the patron Fritz Waerndorfer, was a productive association in Vienna, Austria that bro ...

with which the architect Hoffmann was involved. The ownership and management of the sanatorium were lost in the course of the

Aryanization Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...

of 1938.Stefan Peters, ''Löchrige Geschichte'', http://www.purkersdorf-online.at/kultur/sanatorium/arisierung.php3 Accessed 26 April 2007. Sanatoriumpurkersdorf4

The sanitorium was more of a hotel than hospital and turned into a social and artistic venue of Viennese society. Among the treatments were mineral baths, physical therapies, therapeutic massages and physiotherapy. Convalescence cases and mental illnesses were especially treated in the upper classes. Through silence, light and air, and the rationality of the facility with ornament reduced to a minimum, cures of the new illnesses such as

nervousness Nervous may refer to: * nervousness * Nervous system, a network of cells in an animal's body that coordinates movement and the senses ** Nervous tissue, the cells of the nervous system that work in aggregate to transmit signals Music * "Nervous" ...

, and

hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

were sought. Also provided were reading rooms, a playroom for card games, table tennis, billiard and music-rooms for the entertainment of the guests. In 1926, against the will of Josef Hoffmann, the architect

Leopold Bauer Leopold Bauer (1 September 1872 – 7 October 1938) was an Austrian-Silesian architect. His work was part of the architecture event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Work The Petr Bezruč City House of Culture in Opava, which ...

heightened the building with another floor, Accessed 26 April 2006. which impaired the original artistic conception. Sanatoriumpurkersdorf2

After the death of Victor Zuckerkandls in 1927 the sanitarium was inherited by his nephews and nieces. From 1930, a son-in-law continued the business with little success. Trude Zuckerkandl tried in 1938 to restore the ailing business. Before an economic recuperation, Austria's ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

'' took place and in March 1938 was the

. Towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the building served as a military hospital. In 1945, it was requisitioned by the Russian occupying forces.

Hospital

The

Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

acquired the building in 1952 and rebuilt it as a hospital. A part of the facility was used as a nursing home. The old pavilions had to be rebuilt because of dilapidation. The business was discontinued in 1975. The buildings and park remained long unused and fell into disrepair. Sanatoriumpurkersdorf3

Restoration

In 1995, an external renovation took place, whereby the upper floor added by Leopold Bauer was removed and the original appearance was restored. On the inside cultural festivities took place and in the years 1996 to 2001

Paulus Manker Paulus Manker (born 25 January 1958) is an Austrian film director and actor, as well as an author and screenplay writer. Manker is considered one of the most maverick German-speaking actors, and polarizes public opinion like scarcely no other. ...

's "''Alma – A Show biz ans Ende''" about the life of the

Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was an Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite. At 15, she was mentored by Max Burckhard. Musically active from her early year ...

-Werfel was filmed there. The necessary interior renovation was finally carried out in 2003 and it is now used as a senior care home.

Notes

References

* * {{commons category, Sanatorium Purkersdorf Buildings and structures in Lower Austria Art Deco architecture Art Nouveau architecture in Austria Hospitals in Austria Hospital buildings completed in 1905 Art Nouveau hospital buildings 1905 establishments in Austria-Hungary Companies acquired from Jews under Nazi rule