Purkersdorf Sanatorium
A white cube in the woods west of Vienna, where the Secession turned a health resort into a manifesto.
At a glance
In the Wienerwald just west of Vienna, Josef Hoffmann built a sanatorium in 1904–1905 that looks nothing like the spas of its day. No turrets, no garlands: a plain white block with flat roof and a clean grid of windows. It was a fashionable retreat for nervous and physical cures, and an early reinforced-concrete building.
Key facts
- Location: Purkersdorf, Lower Austria, near Vienna
- Architect: Josef Hoffmann
- Built: 1904–1905
- Style: Vienna Secession (early modern)
- Note: an early reinforced-concrete building
History
Hoffmann was a founder of the Wiener Werkstätte, and he treated the sanatorium as a total work: building, furniture and fittings designed together, with Koloman Moser among those who worked on the interiors.
The result startled visitors used to historicist spas. Its geometry and bare surfaces pointed straight at the modern century. The building passed through many uses and a long decline, was restored, and today serves as a senior care residence.
What you see
The body is a cube, white and flat-roofed, its windows set flush in a grid. Hoffmann used squares everywhere, the motif of the early Secession, from the railings to the tiled patterns inside. Strip away a few details and it could pass for a building of decades later. That was the point.
Practical information
- Open: private residence; viewable from outside
- Cost: free to view from the street
- Best for: the cubic façade and Secession detailing
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes
Getting there
Purkersdorf lies just west of Vienna in the Wienerwald. S-Bahn trains from the city reach Purkersdorf in about twenty minutes, and the building is a short walk from the station.
Nearby
- Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) — walking country on the city’s edge
- Schönbrunn Palace — back towards Vienna, to the east
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia — Purkersdorf Sanatorium
- MAK / Wiener Werkstätte scholarship — Hoffmann building records
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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