Psychiatric Care Planning in Lower Austria—A long-term Project

The history of mental health planning in Lower Austria is inextricably linked with the history of the Gugging psychiatric hospital which closed in 2007. We will, therefore, trace Gugging’s history from its foundation up to the period after its closure. This will help to identify the different phases in mental health planning in Lower Austria.Covering an area of 19,186 km2, Lower Austria is the largest of Austria’s nine provinces and has the second largest population after Vienna (more than 1.6 mio inhabitants). It is divided into 25 administrative districts, and its typical rural landscape poses the corresponding challenges for the optimum planning of psychiatric care. In this paper, we will trace a path from its historical routes, through modern mental health planning in Lower Austria, to the present day.