Wilhelm Griesinger Hospital

Main building on Brebacher Weg

The Wilhelm Griesinger Hospital was a clinic complex that was built and opened at the end of the 19th century east of the Berlin city limits for the treatment of epilepsy patients . First, the facility was run as an institution for epileptic Wuhlgarten near Biesdorf . The clinic was named after the neurologist Wilhelm Griesinger in 1968 and kept it until around 1992. From this point on, the entire hospital site was taken over by the Vivantes Group and was renamed Vivantes Klinikum Hellersdorf . Since 2011 there has been a gradual takeover of the remaining buildings by the management of the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin while at the same time moving the medical departments from Vivantes to the new main location in Kaulsdorf , which in turn is called Vivantes Klinikum Kaulsdorf . All buildings on the Wuhlgarten site have been listed as historical monuments since 1989.

location

The Wilhelm-Griesinger-Hospital occupied an area of 960,000 square meters (96 hectares ), which is divided in the north-south direction in the middle by the already existing street Kirsch- / Eichenallee. The entire avenue is indicated on city maps with Brebacher Weg.

In a west-east direction, Blumberger Damm (or Warener Straße) and the Wuhle ditch form the boundary of the hospital grounds. Much of the open space between the buildings was planted with trees and shrubs. The hospital buildings are located near the Wuhletal U- and S-Bahn station . A system of paths in small parts extends from the nine-meter-wide and paved north-south main axis and opens up the area.

history

Between 1893 and 1945

The hospital with its main location in Brebacher Weg was opened on November 18, 1893 as the "Institute for Epileptic Wuhlgarten near Biesdorf" with a capacity of 1,000 beds. The client, the city of Berlin, made a conscious decision in favor of a psychiatric clinic, which was located far outside the Berlin city limits and had a rail connection to the Ostbahn .

After the medical findings, especially Wilhelm Griesinger , that in addition to treatment, occupational therapy and recreational opportunities in parks and on agricultural areas can contribute to the recovery of the sick, a generous development was realized here in the Wuhletal area . The expanse, the natural landscape and the delimitation by the railway line meant that the area was neither walled nor fenced. The development in a loose villa form ( pavilion style ) was designed by the city councilor and architect Hermann Blankenstein in the neo-renaissance style. It was based on the recommendations valid at the time, in addition to providing separate accommodation for women and men, workshops, agricultural facilities with usable areas and animal husbandry as well as a self-sufficient supply system (drinking water with a water tower, sewage, energy supply, heating with its own boiler house).

As with the construction of similar hospitals at the end of the 19th century, a complete underground tunnel system was built through which all supply lines as well as accessible areas led. This system is only used for maintenance purposes; it can be recognized by the small overgrown entrance house of the former ice cellar (on the back of the main house) and some (locked) stairs.

For the mostly two-storey buildings, the interplay between yellow and red clinker bricks with the economical use of separate facade decorations served as decorative architectural elements. Since Blankenstein was also responsible for the construction of the Herzberge Hospital at the same time , there are numerous architectural similarities between the buildings that have been realized. The houses for the clinic doctors (called country houses) were also built on the site in the same architectural style, most of them are now on the list of monuments .

After the first construction from 1890 to 1893, extensions were built up to 1905, primarily for the medical sector. After all, there were 44 individual buildings on the site, including five larger multi-wing buildings with the central administration building. Vis-à-vis the main building, separated by an entrance roundabout planted with bushes and pyramid poplars , a small church was built that was modeled on an early Christian basilica. Due to the effects of the war until 1945, the church was only a ruin.

After World War II until 2011

The Red Army confiscated after the war ended in 1945, the country houses (former residential colony), including the Institute cemetery in the northern area of the hospital and used it for their own purposes. As early as 1946, the accommodation of sick people in the preserved or repaired station buildings was permitted again, but a northern area including the institution cemetery initially remained taboo.

When the Wall was built in August 1961, around half of all doctors working in the hospital were canceled because they lived in West Berlin . Doctors trained in the GDR soon filled the vacancies. From 1963 onwards, the institution was profiled for the treatment of addicts, again using work therapy or open discussion groups under the guidance of psychotherapists. A source reports that in the 1970s in some wards of the hospital on behalf of West German pharmaceutical companies, tests were carried out on patients without their knowledge.

Hospital church

The destroyed church could Hospital after the turn to be rebuilt from 1994 to 1997 based on the old plans. Helge Warem's Berlin glass workshop produced new, modern church windows. A special association organizes the use of the chapel, so it does not belong to the hospital operators. In the 2010s, the small church established itself as a gallery and concert hall. In June 2018 the tower received a new bell.

Timeline: summary and details

1890–1893: First installation of the hospital buildings and the parking and usable areas (inscription on the main building), opening with a treatment capacity for 1,000 patients

1905: first extension buildings (second construction phase), whereby u. a. a capacity for 100 children was added

1926: Establishment of an infection barracks for the treatment of the mentally ill with tuberculosis

1928: Renaming to the municipal sanatorium and nursing home (for epileptics) Wuhlgarten

1933: Capacity increased to 1,450 patients, including 1,000 epileptics, 200 mentally ill and 250 hospital staff

As part of the Nazi campaigns “to keep the people healthy”, evacuation, forced sterilization and, in 1940/41, the murder of patients as part of the ideology “life unworthy of life” ( euthanasia ) began.

1936: a "hereditary biological inventory" in the institution became mandatory

1944: Bomb damage to buildings and in the area with thirty dead

1945: Permanent confiscation of the country houses (former residential colony) including the institution cemetery in the northern area of the hospital by the Red Army

Between 1946 and 1950: six closed and two open wards were occupied with 350 mentally ill.

From the founding of the GDR , the inpatient and outpatient sectors were further expanded.

May 1950: Reconstruction of an undamaged wing of House 2 for the accommodation of forensically trained mentally ill people; other sick people were transferred to Herzberge . New establishment of a neurological department

1951/52: Reconstruction of house 3 for use by geriatrics and neurology

New construction of a plastered two-story house for the admission of acute addicts

1960: capacity of the hospital increased to 1,600 beds; No further new additions for the time being

1961: All of the West Berlin doctors employed here, including the medical director, were canceled from August 13th ( Berlin Wall ), which meant that instead of 13, only 7th doctors were available to care for the sick

The GDR Ministry of Health has re-profiled it as the “Municipal Hospital for Psychiatry and Neurology Wuhlgarten”. As a result, the neurological department and the psychiatric departments for acutely and subacutely ill, chronically ill and nursing patients were created.

1963: Intensification of care for addicts (alcohol, tablets) through the introduction of modern methods such as group therapy and training; a downstream alcoholic care is established

1966: Opening of the department for clinical psychotherapy

The group therapy is further improved by psychotherapeutically oriented remedial gymnastics and music therapy.

Most of the stations are now open, which means that the window grilles that were initially present can be removed.

1968: On the 100th anniversary of Wilhelm Griesinger's death and the 75th year of foundation, the facility is renamed Wilhelm-Griesinger-Krankenhaus Berlin (WGK).

1969/70: Clearance of the buildings previously used by the Red Army in the northern area and submission to the GDR Council of Ministers . The latter then set up a party school for West German DKP functionaries under the responsibility of the Franz Mehring Institute at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig . A fence separated this area from the rest of the hospital grounds.

1979/80: House 5 was completely reconstructed within 30 months.

1984: Extension of the physiotherapy in house 18

1986: Reconstruction of house 19 for the 1st and 2nd psychiatric clinic

1987 (third construction phase): Construction of a specialist outpatient clinic in house 41 for the addiction clinic and renovation measures for the lifting of gender segregation, a low wall and a wrought iron fence were built towards Altentreptower Straße

1988: Creation of two clinics for rehabilitation and long-term psychiatric therapy

1990: Complete return of the country houses used by the former party school to the hospital as a result of the reunification of Germany.Apartments were built
here that were made available to patients in the department for long-term psychiatric therapy and the department for addictions or were re-assigned as residential buildings.

1992: Opening of the department for child and adolescent psychiatry and subsequent move to the Vivantes Friedrichshain Clinic

1993 to 1998: Enthospitalization project and subsequent dissolution of the 4th psychiatric department (long-term misplaced patients)

1997 (January 1st): Merger with the Kaulsdorf Hospital to form the Hellersdorf Hospital and the beginning of the gradual outsourcing of departments to the Berlin-Kaulsdorf district

Between 1998 and 2005: With the help of numerous institutions such as the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and renowned engineering offices, some buildings and the green area were renovated and modernized in a first phase. Further partial renovations were carried out in a second construction phase between April 2008 and March 2009.

Map of the houses on the Wuhlgarten site; Situation in 2015. For the figures, see table

Building uses

The buildings erected on the site in the course of its use as a hospital were given consecutive numbers ranging from 1 to 50. At the end of the Second World War, some destruction must have taken place on the hospital grounds. One of the houses on Brebacher Weg shows a facade that has been rebuilt with recycled bricks and masonry has been inserted instead of a window. In addition, there is a remnant of a building between houses 2 and 3, which rises about half a meter from the basement. The eleven windows are all covered with wood.

The following assignments can be made on the basis of the general plan in the park (as of summer 2015) and an attentive inspection on site:

House no.	histor. use	Use in the 21st century	Comments, reference to the type
01	Main building, administrative headquarters	Brebacher Weg 17, vacant since around 2012; is being developed with neighboring buildings to form a complex with 32 condominiums (market name "Arcadia")
02		Occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychosomatic medicine, smaller users, still belong to the Vivantes Clinic for Psychiatry	r, b. To the north of it there is a small brick building (without a number) that houses a ceramic workshop. Vivantes Kaulsdorf handed over all of the buildings on the site in November 2015, and the ukb is planning a subsequent use.
03		Acute ward	Lebenshilfe group in a building from 1952, plastered Owner or operator is the Lebensnäne gGmbH, association of therapeutically assisted living.
04th	Accommodation of artists	Guest house of the ukb	b, o (address Brebacher Weg 15)
05	neurology	Neurology ukb	r, b
06th		Medical Services	The house is between the central access and the rescue center, a number cannot be seen.
07th		Commercial Director of the ukb	r, b
08th		Guest house of the ukb	b, o
10		private residence	r, b
11		Marzahn Eye Clinic , self-employed	r, b
13		private residence	b, o
14th		Emergency training center
15th	Boiler house, water tower	Lecture hall / conference room, an annex to the north and south	b, o with white facade surfaces
16		Administration of the ukb
18th		The back of Eichenallee has already been converted into apartments and sold. The individual entrances to the former clinic building have the postal addresses 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 and 61.	b, o
22nd		private residence	r, b
32	Director's residence		r, b
33		Office of Wuhletal GmbH - Wuhlgarten e. V .; b, o
34		Day clinic "An der Wuhle" egmbH	originally to Vivantes, but has started his own business; b, o
41	Addiction clinic, specialist outpatient department, section gerontopsychiatry and care (1970s)	Admission and exit (dismissals) for Vivantes	rebuilt around 1978
46		Information technology department of the ukb
47		Finance, patient management, accident insurers	r, b
48		Use by the company EproTec	b, o. A free-standing extension is part of it.
49		Center for Clinical Research of the ukb
50		Cultural kindergarten of the ukb
51		Rehabilitation (renovation work)	b, o

Explanations:

The markings in the third column mean: the building is cross-banded with red and brown (r, b) or brown and light-colored (b, o) clinker bricks. All houses have pent roofs .

The numbers that were not recorded could not (yet) be decrypted. The houses with numbers over 50 are outside the current hospital area.

The well-preserved or restored country houses have house numbers 1 to 14. In the 21st century, they are mainly used for private residential purposes, only a few traders can be found: Minerva Biolabs GmbH, O-Via GmbH and ERM Consulting GmbH. House number 7 is decorated in a particularly detailed way: it has a decorative turret and the horizontal stripes are made of colored glazed ceramic mosaics. This is most likely the director's villa at the time.

Only two buildings were still used by the Vivantes Clinic: the neurology area (house 5) and psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatics (house 2). With the completion of a new building at Myslowitzer Strasse 45 in Kaulsdorf, this area was also given up from the end of 2016.

Park

Swiss stone pine - one of the many marked trees in the hospital park

In the eastern area, sloping slopes towards the Wuhle determine the park, into which four dome-shaped foothills of the Barnim push themselves . There is also a direct footpath connection to the old Wuhle, which still flowed along the eastern edge of this strip in the 1970s.

When the hospital was built, numerous native trees such as maple , ash , oak , chestnut , linden , hornbeam , birch , robinia , spruce , pine , poplar , mountain ash , hawthorn , Douglas fir and yew were planted. The tree population, which is now more than a hundred years old, has been continuously maintained and supplemented, including exotic plants, and now comprises a total of around 3,000 trees (2015).

The garden is an important horticultural monument. In addition, eight rare trees or groups of trees of the plant and are natural monuments special protection: an English oak , two tulip magnolias , an elm , two groups of four beech , a tulip tree , a Japanese pagoda tree , a boxwood and a group of bitter nut trees .

Originally a pond on the Wuhle, today's carp pond , was part of the ensemble. The carp pond is now well outside the Wuhlgarten and has been supplied with water via a branch canal since the comprehensive renaturation of the Neue Wuhle .

The southern slopes of the Wuhle have recently been redesigned based on the historical model. The original path system and its vegetation were largely restored.

Former cemetery of the hospital

old cemetery wall

The institution's own cemetery ( 52 ° 31 ′ 26.7 ″ N , 13 ° 34 ′ 6 ″ E ) was laid out far to the northwest of the hospital. Since 1945, however, only military persons of the Soviet Army who died in hospital were buried here. With the total evacuation of the area, all graves were leveled, the cemetery itself has been outside of the former prison grounds for a few years. He can only be recognized by his brick wall. 52.52407 13.56832

On September 20, 2017, a memorial stele in memory of the former cemetery of the Wuhlgarten institution was inaugurated in the green area opposite Buckower Ring 11 on the initiative of the hospital church interest group, the association “Wuhlgarten - Aid Association for the Mentally Ill eV” and the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district council assembly.

Monuments and art on the hospital grounds

There is a fountain system in Hauptallee near house 17 , but it has been dry for a few years, as is the fountain in the middle of the roundabout in front of the main administration building, which is still evidenced by a stone fountain bowl.

In addition, a small memorial complex made of field stones was created on the site (near the church) , with a brass plate referring to a communal grave with 180 patients who died in this hospital as a result of the Second World War. The institution's own cemetery could not be used because it had already been confiscated.

Memorial stone for the victims of euthanasia

In later years has been erratic of granite placed with a metal plaque of the victims of the euthanasia killings recalls.

The history of the former Griesinger Hospital continues in the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin , founded in 1997 .

literature

Institute for Monument Preservation (ed.): The architectural and art monuments in the GDR, capital Berlin II . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984, page 251.
Hospital Hellersdorf (Ed.): Trees and bushes in the park facilities of the local area Wilhelm-Griesinger-Krankenhaus - Dendrological Guide , May 2000.
Information from the Berlin-Brandenburg Environmental Office V.
Document C Rep 745 in the Landesarchiv Berlin: Wilhelm-Griesinger-Krankenhaus , short story
The Wuhlgarten sanatorium and nursing home 1933 - 1945 - a place acknowledges its past , Wuhlgarten-Aid Association for Mentally Ill people e. V. Excerpts