Beckomberga Hospital () was a Swedish

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 ...

, situated in

Bromma Bromma () is a Boroughs of Stockholm, borough (''stadsdelsområde'') in the western part of Stockholm, Sweden, forming part of the Stockholm Municipality. Bromma is primarily made up of Bromma Parish and Västerled Parish. The fourth largest airpo ...

, a western district of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Opened in 1932, Beckomberga was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, at its peak housing some 2,000

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

patients. The hospital closed in 1995.

History

Beckomberga Hospital was built during 1929–1935 by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Carl Westman,Utlåtande 2012: RIII (Dnr 311-1850/2012) Detaljplan för Beckomberga 1:1 i stadsdelen Beckomberga, Dp 2009-16915-54
/ref> who cooperated with chief

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

Ivar Andersson to plan and design the new hospital on land acquired by the Stockholm City council in 1927. The new hospital was located some distance from the city limits, and intentionally kept isolated from urban areas.Sylvan S. Furman, 1965: ''Community Mental Health Services in Northern Europe: Great Britain, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden''. National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.), pp. 137–140
online version
In 1932 the first section opened, ready to house 600 patients. When the construction was completed in 1935, Beckomberga Hospital was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Europe with rooms for 1,600 patients and approximately 800 staff. The hospital was surrounded by high-class landscaping, which played an important part in the therapy for patients with mental illnesses. the entire hospital was designed according to classical ideas: with buildings and the hospital park arranged in a large-scale

symmetrical Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations ...

pattern along a central north–south axis. The central axis starts in the south with a straight linden tree avenue, up to a semi-circular square before the central part of the hospital. Four massive four-storey buildings, which were originally interconnected with high walls, create a closed rectangular courtyard. Women and men were separated in each long building: with female patients housed in the western building and male patients in the eastern one. Administration was located in the southern building, and the northern housed the kitchen facility. In the center of the courtyard is located a lower bricked building which was utilized as

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

and church. The courtyard had strict landscaping with small trees, trimmed like pyramids. Almost all buildings surrounding the central complex were also strictly arranged according to the symmetrical pattern. The buildings are relatively soberly designed with few distinct details; the overall impression is monumental. The interior, however, has gradually been changed and very little remains from the original interior. An exception is the auditorium in the central courtyard, which keeps its original interior, with ceiling paintings, a stage and balcony with classical decoration. This building along with the administration building are listed as ''blue'' (class I) – as buildings of ''most historical importance''. The remaining original buildings are listed as ''green'' (class II) – an ''important from a culture-historical perspective''. The central hospital unit was surrounded by a park with spacious lawns, extensive gardens and linden tree avenues, though some natural hill formations were kept. Since the hospital opened in the mid-1930s, only a few more buildings were added. The hospital area, therefore, kept its original character. However, since the hospital finally closed in 1995, the city council has decided to convert the area into housing development, putting the future of the historic buildings and parks in jeopardy.

Notable patients

Sigrid Hjertén Sigrid Hjertén (27 October 1885 – 24 March 1948) was a Swedish modernist painter. Hjertén is considered a major figure in Swedish modernism. Periodically she was highly productive and participated in 106 exhibitions. She worked as an artist ...

- died at the hospital in 1948 after a botched

lobotomy A lobotomy () or leucotomy is a discredited form of Neurosurgery, neurosurgical treatment for mental disorder, psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy, Depression in childhood and adolescence, depression) that involves sev ...

prescripted to treat her

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. *

Nelly Sachs Nelly Sachs (; 10 December 1891 – 12 May 1970) was a German–Swedish poet and playwright. Her experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazism, Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearn ...

- admitted in 1960 after a series of nervous breakdowns.

References

*
Kulturhistorisk värdefull bebyggelse och park
Listed buildings at Beckomberga. {{Authority control Hospitals established in 1932 Hospital buildings completed in 1935 Psychiatric hospitals in Sweden Defunct hospitals in Sweden Hospitals disestablished in 1995 Hospitals in Stockholm 1932 establishments in Sweden 1995 disestablishments in Sweden 1930s establishments in Stockholm 20th-century disestablishments in Stockholm