A Visit to the Friedrichsberg Asylum

Extract

This institution for lunatics is situated near Hamburg, about a mile from the general hospital, and part of it was first opened in December, 1864. It is one of the most recent and complete asylums in Germany, and, the number of beds having been recently much increased, can accommodate about 370 patients. The land was cheap at the time of the construction, and therefore the grounds in which the buildings stand are very large; they are partly used as a farm. The principal building has the form of a square, open at one side, with numerous projecting portions, especially in the centre, where the administration is located, and officers' dwellings, kitchen, wash-house, and baths are found. The blocks which form this incomplete square have corridors running at one side, by which, however, they are not connected in the usual manner, but the connection is broken at the corners. The passages are 12 feet wide, lofty, and ventilated by end windows; they are warmed by hot water pipes.