The Hidden Histories of Poland’s Psychiatric Hospitals

zofiowka-szpital-forum.jpg, full-width, Buildings of a former Jewish psychiatric hospital ‘Zofiówka’, Otwock, photo: Maciek Markowski/Forum

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The first institutions for the mentally ill in Poland date back as far as the 15th century, and by the mid-17th century, a handful of more specialised care homes had begun to emerge. While these places have long played an important and necessary role, psychiatric hospitals have also become surrounded by a quiet aura of stories and legends.

Care for those experiencing mental illness was already present in the Middle Ages, most often provided by monks and nuns. In the mid-15th century, for instance, a Teutonic Order castle in Świecie housed the Thorichte Hof – or ‘insane courtyard’ – one of the earliest known institutions of its kind. Today, the same city is home to Poland’s longest-operating psychiatric hospital, founded in a former Bernardine monastery in the 19th century and still functioning more than 160 years later.

This long tradition reflects a broader cultural continuity: care for those with ailments of the soul was formally recognised as early as 1529, when Sigismund I the Old included it in the First Statute of Lithuania. Although methods of diagnosis and treatment have evolved alongside changing understandings of mental health, the stories and associations surrounding these institutions have persisted.

Tworki Hospital, Pruszków

The idea to build a psychiatric hospital near Warsaw was born in the 1830s. Thanks to the insistence of the medical profession, it was realised in the 1890s – this is when the first buildings of the new hospital were erected on the 58-hectare part of the former Tworki estate.

The Tworki Hospital is one of the most famous and esteemed institutions of its kind in Poland. The hospital resembles a kind of ‘city within a city’ as it has buildings of various functions (for example, in 1904, there was built an Armenian church in Tworki and it was reconsecrated into a Roman Catholic church in 1930). Additionally, the building complex was developed according to the ideas of the garden city movement, so it is filled with greenery.

Because the hospital was expanded over many decades, its buildings were constructed in different architectural styles. They include the neo-gothic (Józef Pius Dziekoński, the famous architect of neo-gothic temples was among the people working in Tworki), art deco, manor style and post-war modernism.

Hospital in Kobierzyn near Kraków

Dr. Józef Babiński Specialist Hospital, Kobierzyn, photo: Mateusz Skwarczek/AG

Dr. Józef Babiński Hospital in Kraków-Kobierzyn is the biggest institution of its kind in Lesser Poland. It is a modern medical unit but also a noteworthy architectural/park establishment. It is said that it is a ‘garden hospital’ based on the idea of the garden city developed at the end of the 19th century. The idea to create an institution for the mentally ill near Kraków was born in 1903 and the construction started in 1907, but it lasted until 1914. The complex of little hospital buildings located among the greenery was designed by Władysław Klimczak, Zygmunt Jarlany, Andrzej Dodkowski and Tadeusz Zieliński, who combined elements of manor style with art deco which was popular at the time (especially its Austrian kind). Among the hospital’s pavilions, the former administrative and reception building, the theatre, and the director’s villa stand out for their strikingly refined forms. Despite numerous expansions, the complex has preserved the charm of a picturesque ensemble, reflecting some of the finest architectural ideas of the early 20th century.

Zofiówka, Otwock

The Stanisław Dubois Training Centre of the Youth Organisation of the Labour University Association in the buildings of the former Jewish psychiatric hospital, the so-called Zofiówka, 1948, photo: PAP

The story of a building called Zofiówka is tragic as it contains almost everything dramatic that afflicted Poland in the 20th century. The Society for Care for the Poor and the Mentally and Nervously Ill Jews tried to build a professional care and treatment institution for many years. It succeeded thanks to Zofia Endelmanowa who donated her jewellery to finance the construction. This way, the largest minority in Poland received a modern hospital capable of treating 300 people at the same time. During World War II Zofiówka became part of the Otwock ghetto. The Germans transported the mentally ill patients from other cities in order to murder them or send them to Treblinka concentration camp in August 1942. Soon afterwards, they created in Zofiówka a centre of the Nazi programme Lebensborn aimed at pairing people of appropriate descent and looks in order to develop the ‘master race’.

After World War II, the former Jewish psychiatric hospital was converted into a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, and in the 1980s it once again began admitting those with mental illness. Since 1998, however, the historic building and its surrounding park have stood abandoned, gradually falling into ruin.

The psychiatric hospital in Owińska

The building of a former psychiatric hospital in Owińska, photo: Łukasz Cynalewski/AG

Similarly to Otwock’s Zofiówka, the psychiatric hospital in Owińska in Greater Poland also has its dark history. In 1838, a former Cistercian monastery was adapted to serve as an institution for the mentally ill. It was the first hospital of its kind in Greater Poland and it grew rapidly – it is believed that the moment World War II broke out, there were around a thousand patients staying in Owińska.

In September 1939, the hospital became a target of the criminal Nazi operation T4, which involved the Germans exterminating the mentally ill. All patients of the hospital in Owińska lost their lives as they were transported to Fort VII in Poznań where they were killed with gas – this was the first time gas was used to murder civilians. After the war, the building housed an educational centre, but it has remained empty since 1994. Despite having a private owner (who planned to create an elderly home), it has been falling into greater and greater ruin. But it is a place popular with explorers of abandoned buildings and fans of… horrors – it is said that the hospital is haunted.

Obrzyce Hospital for Nervously & Mentally Ill

Hospital for Nervously and Mentally Ill in Międzyrzecz (Obrzyce), photo: Silu/Wikipedia

Obrzyce Hospital for Nervously and Mentally Ill near Międzyrzecz (today, Obrzyce is a part of the city of Międzyrzecz) accepted its first patients in 1904. It was then called the Institution for the Demented and consisted of numerous buildings arranged alongside internal streets in a geometric pattern (there were 13 pavilions for the patients, an administrative building, a church, a warehouse and houses for the management and the doctors). The hospital complex was designed to make an inviting impression: it resembles more a neighbourhood of villas than a medical facility, the visitors are welcomed by a decorative gate and the houses have ornate shapes with high roofs and brick finish. Although the hospital was expanded many times, traces of the ordered German idea are still visible. Eleven of the buildings in the complex are included in the register of objects of cultural heritage.

Until World War II, the hospital served as an institution for patients living in Prussia. In 1941, the Germans carried out the T4 operation there – patients who were not of German descent were murdered. Despite its tragic history, the hospital resumed operation after the war. The patients are treated there even today, both in old and new buildings.

Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż

The Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż is one of the most valuable baroque buildings not only in Poland, but also in Europe. Counted among the biggest sacral constructions in the world, it was built between the 14th and the 18th century, but its most impressive part – the Abbot Palace – was created in the last years of the 17th century.

Today, we have no doubts about the value of the well-preserved buildings and the ornate interiors, but in the past the abbey (due to its enormous size) was used in various ways. During the turbulent years following World War II, when Lower Silesia was an object of international disputes and political games, the decorative halls of the monastery housed a psychiatric hospital for the Red Army soldiers. Following their return from a terrible war – regardless of the side on which they fought – the soldiers were surely in need of psychiatric help. I wonder whether the baroque interiors of the Lubiąż abbey aided them in their recovery?

Psychiatric Hospital in Kortowo, Olsztyn

Kortowo is a name familiar above all to students. This district of Olsztyn houses a modern academic campus created for the University of Warmia and Mazury. And while most of the buildings in this complex were built very recently, the history of the older part of Kortowo dates back to the 19^th century. Left from that period there are not only the characteristic brick buildings, but also the park that is a home to more than a hundred species of trees (such as the exotic metasequoia glyptostroboides from China) and many of them are natural monuments.

Although the historic buildings were adapted after World War II to serve the needs of the Univeristy, they had previously been part of a psychiatric hospital created in the 1880s. The institution was in operation until 1939 when most of its patients were exterminated as part of the Nazi operation T4.

The tragic history of the complex is not too different from those of other psychiatric hospitals that operated in what is now Polish territory. But there are many myths and legends surrounding Kortowo. It is said that the Prussian hospital was a place full of cruelty where the patients were not treated but tortured and subjected to experiments. According to some, the mortality rate was really high and the patients sent there never returned home. Are those stories true? It is impossible to say.

Drewnica Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill in Ząbki

Psychiatry underwent rapid development at the turn of the 20th century, when many hospitals were established across Europe – institutions that, in many cases, continue to serve patients today. For years, experts have warned of the growing demand for psychiatric care and the increasing scale of mental health challenges, yet relatively few new facilities have been built in response.

One notable exception is the hospital in Ząbki near Warsaw. Its history dates back to the 19th century, when it was founded on the initiative of Pelagia Popławska, a Swiss-educated physician and social reformer who established the Warsaw Society for Medical Help and Care for the Mentally and Nervously Ill. The hospital began operating in 1903 in former military barracks, which remained in use until recently.

In October 2018, a new, ultramodern complex was completed. Designed by Pas Projekt Archi Studio, the low-rise pavilions were conceived to create a calm, welcoming environment for patients. Alongside medical facilities, the complex includes spaces for music therapy, rehabilitation, as well as a café, reading room, conference hall, and winter garden – reflecting a more holistic approach to care.

The construction of the psychiatric hospital in Ząbki is the first Polish investment of its kind following World War II.

Translated from Polish by Michał Wieczorek

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