Psychiatrie-Museum Haar

About the museum

The museum was established in 2005 on the grounds of today's kbo-Isar-Amper-Klinikum in Haar, one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Germany. It tells the history of this institution and of psychiatry as a field through objects that were actually used in everyday clinic life.

The Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Eglfing (sanatorium and nursing institution) opened in 1905 and was then regarded as an example of more humane psychiatry: in an extensive park there were pavilions with terraces and gardens, and a farmstead and workshops provided occupation and self-sufficiency. In 1912 the neighboring Haar institution was added, with one of the first children's houses. In the Nazi era, Eglfing-Haar under director Hermann Pfannmüller became a central site of forced sterilizations and the murder of patients; about 4,000 people were deported or killed on site. On January 18, 1940, 25 men were taken from here to Grafeneck, where they were murdered the same day.

The exhibition presents some of the victims by name and face and at the same time shows the everyday life of the patients, who often lived in the clinic for years until the 1970s – among other things in a reconstructed living room with original furniture. Further topics are the reform movement from the 1960s, the 1975 Psychiatry Inquiry (Psychiatrie-Enquete) with decentralization, outpatient services, and the ban on straitjackets, as well as well-known patients such as Oskar Maria Graf and Eugen Gabritschevsky.

Highlights

• Original objects from over 115 years of clinic history
• Remembrance of the victims of Nazi "euthanasia" in Eglfing-Haar
• Reconstructed living room with original furniture
• Psychiatric reform and the Psychiatry Inquiry (Psychiatrie-Enquete) of 1975
• Life stories of well-known patients such as Oskar Maria Graf

Permanent exhibitions

• Geschichte der Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Eglfing-Haar – A tour through more than a century of clinic history – from its founding as a pavilion-style institution through the everyday life of long-term patients to psychiatric reform.
• NS-Diktatur und „Euthanasie“ – This part of the exhibition commemorates forced sterilizations and the murder of patients in Eglfing-Haar and presents the life stories of individual victims.

Founded

2005

Operated by

kbo-Isar-Amper-Klinikum gGmbH (Kliniken des Bezirks Oberbayern)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission. A museum brochure is available at the museum for €3.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is not accessible.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Getting there & parking

GPS address: Vockestraße 72, 85540 Haar (clinic entrance), then follow the signs on the grounds. From the A99 exit Haar, from the A94 exit Feldkirchen-Ost.

Amenities & dining

The public Café Jedermann (Ringstraße 36) is on the clinic grounds.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit