Hartheim Castle Courtyard
Open courtyard of Hartheim
Castle in Alkoven, Austria
This is the view of the courtyard from
the entrance on the south side of the Hartheim Castle. The courtyard
is open to the sky, with an arcade that runs around each floor
on all four sides. On the ground floor, you can see a fence,
made of rusty metal panels, that has been constructed as part
of the Memorial Site.
Metal fence hides the
route that the victims walked to their death
View of the north side
of the courtyard at Hartheim Castle
The courtyard of Hartheim Castle is covered
with gravel and open to the sky. The rooms of the four-story
castle are arranged around the courtyard. The handicapped persons
who were gassed at Hartheim entered the building through a door
on the northwest corner shown on the left in the photo above.
They walked down the arcade behind the fence to the northeast
tower where the admission room was located. The fence is part
of the memorial and is not original to the castle.
After the war, the building was converted
into apartments. The gas chamber was open to visitors, beginning
in 1969, but the building was closed in 1999 when construction
of the Memorial Site was started. The castle is no longer an
authentic historical building but rather a memorial to the handicapped
and a learning center which promotes awareness of the disabled.
Family memorials are
on the walls of the courtyard near the gas chamber
The east side of the Hartheim Castle
courtyard is on the left and the south side is on the right.
In the lower right-hand corner is the main entrance into the
courtyard from the outside. The exit from the gas chamber tour
is the third door from the left. In the corner, you can see the
doorway into the meditation room which is in the southeast tower.
Original painting on
the arch of courtyard arcade at Hartheim Castle
Rain gutters on the
roof of Hartheim castle
Three sides of the courtyard have fancy
gutter pipes like the one shown above; the one on the fourth
side is missing. This view shows the arcade around the top floor
of the castle. An elevator has been installed for those who can't
climb the stairs to the top. The skylight on the roof is a modern
addition.
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