Gedenkstätte Mainkofen

About Gedenkstätte Mainkofen

An authentic and compelling account of the involvement of today's Mainkofen District Hospital in Nazi euthanasia.

Today's Mainkofen District Hospital opened in 1911 as a sanatorium and nursing home. It was a prime example of the reform psychiatry of its time. For over 100 years, not a single day has passed without patient care being provided in Mainkofen. Mainkofen thus also reflects the history of psychiatry in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The institution experienced its darkest chapter during the Nazi era. The Nazi state declared people with disabilities or mental illnesses to be genetically and socially inferior. With the outbreak of war in 1939, the mass murder of residents of institutions and care homes began under the guise of "euthanasia" and "Operation Merciful Death."

By 1945, up to 300,000 people had been murdered in Germany under these conditions. The regime made use of a far-reaching and willing network of doctors, nurses, and administrative staff.

More than 1,800 patients from Mainkofen were forcibly sterilized or systematically killed.

On October 28, 2014, the memorial was opened as a place of remembrance for the victims of psychiatry during the Nazi era.

The app shows you how the inhumane health policies of the Nazi regime developed and were also implemented in Mainkofen.

The process of coming to terms with Mainkofen's history is far from over. You will be regularly informed about new findings via the app.

In particular, biographies and life stories of victims and perpetrators will be reconstructed and presented in the app.