Schernberg Castle

The Schernberg Castle is a former castle building on a hill above Schwarzach im Pongau in Austria on the left bank of the Salzach . Today, as St. Vinzenz-Heim, it is a dormitory for people with disabilities of the Sisters of Mercy (Daughters of Christian Love) of St. Vincent de Paul .

history

Schernberg Castle was mentioned in a document as early as 1193 in the possession of the Lords of Schernberg as the tower of Schernperge . In 1370 they sold the tower and its goods to the Graf family (von Schernberg) . The keeper of Radstadt Christoph Graf and later his sons had the house converted into a castle by 1550.

Cardinal Friedrich von Schwarzenberg , Prince Archbishop of Salzburg , bought the badly dilapidated property in 1845 and converted it first into a brewery, but then into a hospital and care facility by 1850. He then handed this castle over to the Barmherzigen Schwestern Schwarzach, who had lived here since 1844, with the express wish that this house should always be a nursing home for the disabled and the elderly. In 1846, 5 sisters took over this institution, which was unique in the state of Salzburg, as there was no psychiatric hospital until then. Only later, in 1898, did the Salzburg State Hospital take on patients who needed more intensive psychiatric care.

During the First World War 140 patients were cared for at Schernberg Castle. The agriculture, which was operated for occupational therapy, was used for supply, as the institution received no public funds at that time.

time of the nationalsocialism

During the time of National Socialism there were mass evacuations from Schernberg Castle. In 1941 151 women and men were forcibly evacuated and mostly brought to Niedernhart near Linz or Hartheim Castle , where they were murdered. Some patients were able to take refuge in the nearby forest. Sister Anna Bertha Königsegg campaigned for the disabled in order to save them from being gassed.

Quote from an exhibition text on Nazi euthanasia in the State of Salzburg:

“ … In the early morning hours of April 21, 1941 the Gestapo came with many helpers. When the patients were being dressed and taken away, harrowing scenes took place, and the unruly were sprayed down. 74 women and 41 men were selected from a list. Those who could walk were driven down the mountain, the others were put in small cars; because the big, black-draped buses did not come up the steep path to the castle and were waiting in Schwarzach ... "

post war period

The Order of the Sisters of Mercy, whose motherhouse is now the House of St. Maria in Salzburg-Mülln, runs a home for the disabled in Schernberg Castle. It serves as a differentiated day and residential care home for mentally or multiply disabled people. Most of the employees do not belong to any order.

In 1993 the Schernberg pension fund was renamed St. Vinzenz-Heim.

Others

The handicapped people in this nursing home were also the impetus for the volume of poetry Die Irren - Die Häftlinge by Thomas Bernhard , which was published in 1962 in a private printer in Klagenfurt. (Quote: "I am the convict, if I'm not mistaken, my clothes are convict clothes and I have convict clothes on, right?"). During his stay at the sanatorium, he often passed this nursing home for the mentally and physically handicapped on walks.

There is a natural monument near the castle , a small pond with a small island on it.