Patient Bezirksklinik

As a relatively new discipline, psychiatry always strived to live up to the latest medical standards. In doing so, it had to let itself be judged above all by its institutions. However, with each step forward taken in the field of medicine, these buildings were regarded as out of date as quickly as they were built.
In this respect, therefore, district hospitals in Bavaria represent a special case. In a few decades and in line with the development of medicinal treatment and new concepts in hospitals, therapy and care, they became specialist hospitals. However, constant calls for modernisation have raised questions about how their old architecture can be integrated and continued to be used. In 2019, the ‘Bezirksheimatpflege Mittelfranken’, the association responsible for the cultivation of regional values and traditions in Middle Franconia, organised a conference in this regard called ‘District Hospitals and the Preservation of Buildings of Special Architectural Interest’. The lectures from the conference are compiled in this book and are supplemented by other contributions. Eight essays underline the tremendous importance of such district hospitals and provide insights into the problems posed by their maintenance, use and further development.