Preventorium Dolhain was once a clinic for people with tuberculosis, including many children. As the disease became less common in Western Europe, the complex lost its original purpose. The clinic closed in the 1970s.
In the 1990s, the building was sold to an artists’ collective. Several artists used it as a home and studio. After they too left, the remaining furnishings and equipment suffered further damage, and metals disappeared.
At the time of my visit, there were plans for a new use, but no money to carry them out. The photographs show the complex during that intervening period.
The curved room with its tall windows is one of the most striking parts of the series. Daylight streams in across the room, while the ceiling and walls are badly damaged. Further on, the old sanitary fittings still stand among the damaged tiles. Such images reveal changes to the building, but cannot tell you the medical histories of individual patients.
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