Hohenlychen Sanatorium
By the 1930s the Hohenlychen Sanatorium had become one of the main medical facilities of the Schutzstaffel, where injured or convalescing SS-men were treated.
The treatment of tuberculosis developed in the second half of the 19th century, which required plenty of sunlight, clean air, a balanced diet, and sufficient exercise, initially led to the establishment of private sanatoriums for wealthy patients.
Following the passing of the first social welfare legislation, the state insurance institutions that were established in the 1890s saw it as their responsibility to build many sanatoriums.
Meals were served in 1902 in the nearby "Schützenhaus" restaurant, and from the summer of 1903 there was already a separate dining hall with a kitchen on the premises.
[2] After some initial resistance, the town agreed to the expansion of the site by a further two hectares and the first permanent buildings were erected in 1903 to accommodate sixty children.
During this time, Hohenlychen gained worldwide importance, especially in terms of its success in the orthopaedic and surgical treatment of bone and joint tuberculosis.
[6] After the Nazi takeover Dr Karl Gebhardt got in touch with his friend, Heinrich Himmler, with whom he had been at school in Landshut.
He started the process of joining the SS, and was assigned to Hans von Tschammer und Osten, who put him in contact with Leonardo Conti.
Conti appointed him to be Medical Superintendent at Hohenlychen, on the basis that the sanatorium should be turned into a centre for sport and rehabilitation medicine, and act as a military hospital for the SS.
[7] Despite its excellent results in treating tuberculosis in children, the Jewish medical director who had held the post for nineteen years was dismissed, and Gebhardt was able to realise his plans.
Surgical and inpatient departments for the special treatment of adults with joint disorders and lung diseases were established.
Funding from German Sport Aid enabled investments to be made to expand and modernize the facility.
Hohenlychen was considered a "fashionable place to stay" not only for patients undergoing treatment, but also for officials of the NSDAP.
Hitler's second personal physician Ludwig Stumpfegger worked under Karl Gebhardt, as did Fritz Fischer, Herta Oberheuser and Kurt Heißmeyer.
Ernst-Robert Grawitz, head of the German Red Cross had previously suggested to Gebhardt that he should carry out experiments on concentration camp inmates, but he had been reluctant to do so.
The test groups consisted of thirty-six women who had bacteria, some with wood and glass particles, inserted into their thighs.
However, thirty-two soldiers died in an air raid on April 27, 1945, and two days later the largely intact sanatorium was handed over to Soviet units without a fight.
In 2009, Freiberg civil engineer Michael Neumann bought a part of the complex - nine buildings on twelve hectares - from the state of Brandenburg.
In the Prix Goncourt winning novel, Les Bienveillantes, the Hohenlychen Sanatorium was the location of the protagonist Maximilian Aue's hospitalisation after having been shot in the head at Stalingrad.
