The Sanatorium Purkersdorf was built as a

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 health ...

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 ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. It was built in 1904-05 by the architect

Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann (15 December 1870 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrians, Austrian-Sudeten Germans, Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architect ...

for the industrialist

Victor Zuckerkandl Viktor Zuckerkandl (2 July 1896 in Vienna – 5 April 1965 in Locarno) was a Jewish-Austrian musicologist. He grew up in Vienna as the son of the urologist Otto Zuckerkandl and his wife Amalie, née Schlesinger. As early as 1912, he was a stude ...

and is an example of the style of the

Viennese Secession The Vienna Secession (; also known as the Union of Austrian Artists or ) is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Hof ...

in architecture.

Sanatorium

Zuckerkandl, the general director of the Silesian Iron Work of Gliwice, purchased the property at the city border of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

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 ("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 brought to ...

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

Aryanization Aryanization () 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 powers, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It enta ...

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 Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response to a present threat, where ...

, and

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

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 Opa ...

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 (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

'' took place and in March 1938 was the

. Towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

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. H ...

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

Alma Mahler Alma Mahler-Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was an Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite. Musically active from her early years, she was the composer of nearly fifty songs for voice ...

-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