Hartheim Conference

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The International Hartheim Conference was launched in 2007 as a scientific conference and usually takes place every two years in the learning and memorial site Schloss Hartheim in Upper Austria . Against the background of the history of the house, the Hartheim Conference has set itself the goal of reflecting critically on socio-political developments that try to evaluate human life.

Historical background

From 1898 on there was a care facility for mentally and physically handicapped people in Hartheim Castle, sponsored by the Upper Austrian Provincial Charity Association, a Catholic charitable institution. After Austria was annexed to the German Reich in 1938, the sponsoring association was expropriated by the new rulers and the facility was initially continued by the Gau welfare administration.

In 1940 the decision was made to set up one of the six gas killing facilities of Aktion T4 in the castle , which was aimed at killing patients in psychiatric clinics and residents of institutions for the mentally handicapped. From May 1940 to August 1941, 18,269 people from sanatoriums and nursing homes in the "Alpen- und Donaureichsgaue" (formerly Austria), Bavaria, and the Sudeten region were murdered in the Hartheim killing center. After Operation T4 stopped in August 1941, another group of victims was targeted. By 1944, around 12,000 sick prisoners who were unable to work from the Mauthausen, Dachau, Ravensbrück concentration camps and sick slave laborers had been murdered in Hartheim Castle.

After the end of the Nazi regime, the castle was returned to its original owner, the Upper Austrian State Charity Association. The state charity managed the castle, which was used as a residential building, and in 1969 set up a small memorial in the former killing rooms. On his initiative, the "Hartheim Castle Association" was founded in 1995 with the aim of creating a worthy setting for the memory of the victims. In 1997 the Upper Austrian state government took the unanimous decision to support these efforts, and in 2003 the learning and memorial site Schloss Hartheim was opened. The learning and memorial site consists of a memorial, which is located in the historical rooms of the killing route, and the exhibition "The Value of Life". The exhibition contextualizes the National Socialist concepts of euthanasia and eugenics and addresses the development of the social position of mentally ill and mentally or physically disabled people. The focus is on the presentation and analysis of the process of exclusion of these people and counteracting efforts towards care / integration / inclusion; the time span spans from the emergence of industrial society in the 19th century to the present.

Since it was founded in 2003, the place of learning and memorial has been a place for dealing with historical events as well as current socio-political and ethical developments, which carry the risk that the value of human life will be relativized. The constitution of the International Hartheim Conference in 2007 should be seen in this context. The initiative goes back to the then chairman of the Hartheim Castle Association Georg Starhemberg and Reinhard Dyk .

First International Hartheim Conference 2007

The topic of the first conference, which took place from April 20-22, 2007 in Hartheim Castle, dealt with the title “Meaning and obligation. Questions about the end of life ”with the problem of euthanasia and euthanasia. The conference was opened by high representatives from state and church with Federal President Heinz Fischer , Governor Josef Pühringer and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn , who emphasized the relevance of this conference in their speeches. Renowned scientists shed light on the problems of euthanasia and euthanasia, also and above all active euthanasia for patients who are unable to consent.

Second International Hartheim Conference 2009

The second conference on November 13 and 14, 2009 on the subject of “Ambivalences in the Life Sciences” dealt with the consequences of recent developments in human genetics and genetic engineering . The objectives of the life sciences , the socio-political and ethical consequences of their development, the relationship between human genetics and eugenics , biopolitics and governmentality were topics of the conference. The opening lecture "From the old and the new dreams of geneticists" by Michael Wunder , founding member of the "Working Group for Research into Nazi Euthanasia and Forced Sterilization" dealt with the objectives of modern human genetics and opened up a critical look at continuity and discontinuities in development this field of science.

Third International Hartheim Conference 2012

The third conference took place on March 9 and 10, 2012. Topics were the growing tendency noticeable in Germany and Austria to attempt to interpret social conditions in relation to phenomena such as social stratification , migration and intelligence . The topic of the opening lecture by Josef Weidenholzer was the "Biologization of the social - fascination of feasibility".

Fourth International Hartheim Conference 2014

The fourth International Hartheim Conference took place on November 14th and 15th, 2014. The topic of the conference was dementia as an ethical and socio-political challenge.

Fifth International Hartheim Conference 2016

The fifth International Hartheim Conference took place on November 18 and 19, 2016 and was themed about the optimization of people.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fourth International Hartheim Conference. Hartheim Castle website, accessed April 27, 2018 .
  2. ^ Fifth International Hartheim Conference. Hartheim Castle website, accessed April 27, 2018 .