Harastølen, formerly Lyster Sanatorium, was a
tuberculosis sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence.
Sanatoriums are often in a healthy ...
and later
psychiatric hospital
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...
in Norway established in 1902, located on a remote hill some 500 metres above
Lustrafjorden
The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, ), nicknamed the King of the Fjords (), is the list of Norwegian fjords, longest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the small village ...
in
Luster,
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (''Vestlandet''). It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...
.
A 5,000 square metre large building, the sanatorium had its own
water power
Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kin ...
supply, and was accessed by an
aerial tramway
An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...
.
History
The sanatorium had about 150 patients at any given time and about as many employees, with about 15,000 total patients until its repurposing in 1958,
and was the largest one in Norway.
Attempted treatments of tuberculosis included being exposed to fresh and dry air, and surgical interventions such as
plombage of the lungs and the removal of
rib
In vertebrate anatomy, ribs () are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the thoracic cavity, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ...
s, until
antibiotics
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...
led to a revolution in the treatment of the disease in the 1940s.
The average time at the sanatorium was 135 days.
Between 1895 and 1955, about 250,000 Norwegians died from tuberculosis.
Drawn by one of the leading architects from
Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
, Adolph Fischer,
the sanatorium was originally accessed by a now defunct aerial tramway, but a road was later constructed to the site.
The main building was expanded several times, and several more buildings were constructed around the sanatorium, including workers residencies, a chapel, morgue and a stable.
There was also a bakery, a cinema and a library,
a well-maintained park, and the rooms had water closets and bathtubs which was not common in Norway at the time.
From 1959 to 1991 the former sanatorium was used as a psychiatric hospital. The closure was controversial, and many locals believed it only had financial motivations from the county.
In the early 1990s it was used as an
asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...
centre for a couple of years, as the first and largest operated by the state in Norway, with 340 refugees.
There was conflict between the new residents and the local community after the refugees complained that it was worse to live there due to its remoteness than in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, from which they had fled.
Recent developments
In recent years, the derelict sanatorium has been used for filming the 2015
horror movie
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include monsters, apocalyp ...
''
Villmark Asylum
''Villmark Asylum'' () is a Norwegian horror movie released in 2015. The movie was released to an American audience through Amazon Prime in 2018.
Plot
An abandoned sanatorium is decaying in a remote forest in the mountains, where an older janitor ...
'', and has been a popular destination for
ghost hunters,
urban explorers
Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex, and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inte ...
,
blogger
A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
s and
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
influencers
A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
, although recently the area has been closed off and intruders have faced police charges.
After being threatened with plans to demolish the building, it was in 2021 revealed that new owners had begun work to renovate the hospital as a
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
,
although still not fully financed by investors.
References
Further reading
*
External links
* (official page about the renovation project)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harastolen
1902 establishments in Norway
Buildings and structures in Vestland
Former psychiatric hospitals
Luster, Norway
Psychiatric hospitals in Norway
Tuberculosis sanatoria