Between 1938 and 1945, the Heim Wienerwald in Feichtenbach was a maternity home run by the SS association Lebensborn. Its aim was to increase the number of children classified as “Aryan” under the guise of social welfare. A total of around 1,350 children were born at the home.
The research project is dedicated to the history of Lebensborn as part of Nazi population and racial policy. A database is being created to evaluate the home’s surviving registry office records. Based on written sources, the project also examines the living conditions of the women and the everyday life of the (expectant) mothers and staff at the home. The biographies of those Lebensborn children whose murder can be proven to have taken place as part of the Nazi “child euthanasia” program reveal the particularly drastic intertwining of pro- and anti-natalist measures in Nazi racial policy.

Project management: Barbara Stelzl-Marx
Project coordination: Lukas Schretter
Project collaboration: Sabine Nachbaur, Martin Sauerbrey-Almasy, Nadjeschda Stoffers
Contract work: Richard Wallenstorfer, Theresa Reinalter
Internships: Felix Hafner, Mariana Kienzl, Theresa Reinalter, Richard Wallenstorfer
Duration: 2020–2024
Funding: Jubiläumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank (Projektnummer 18270); Land Niederösterreich, Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, Abteilung Wissenschaft und Forschung

People who were born between 1938 and 1945 at the Heim Wienerwald in Feichtenbach spent their first days, weeks, or years at this Lebensborn home. Their stories are layered with individual experiences and interpretations, as well as ideas and stories passed down through their families. This is the focus of this interview project, which is based on historical experience and concentrates on the dynamics of life and family stories. In addition, interviews are conducted with people whose biographies are connected in various ways to the history of the Heim Wienerwald. These include family members of those born in the home and people who, due to their place of work or residence, can provide information about the (post-)history of the Heim Wienerwald.

Project management: Lukas Schretter
Project collaboration: Sabine Nachbaur, Nadjeschda Stoffers
Contract work: Mariana Kienzl, Theresa Reinalter, Nadjeschda Stoffers, Michaela Tasotti
Internship: Hannah Steckelberg
Duration: 2021–2023
Funding: Zukunftsfonds der Republik Österreich (Projektnummer P21-4314)

The “Erinnerungswerkstatt” is dedicated to the historical reappraisal of the Heim Wienerwald (1938–1945) in Feichtenbach, the only Lebensborn maternity home in what is now Austria. Participants include employees of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War and people whose biographies and family histories are connected in various ways to the history of the home. People from the area surrounding the former home in Feichtenbach are also taking part. Workshops and excursions serve to explore historical sources and teach historical research methods.
The Memory Workshop, located at the interface between academia and civil society, is continuously documented, presented, and evaluated: It highlights the potential that lies behind the constant interconnection between “personal” and “big” history. It also aims to serve as an example of how forms of public and personal-family memory can themselves be understood and accessed as historical sources and objects of learning.

The project is being carried out in collaboration with ten co-researchers from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA.

Project database of the Open Innovation in Science Center of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society: https://ois.lbg.ac.at/projekte/memory-lab/

Projects management: Lukas Schretter
Project team: Martin Sauerbrey-Almasy, Nadjeschda Stoffers
Work contract: Michaela Tasotti
Duration: 2023–2024
Funding: Enrichment Fund, Open Innovation in Science Center der Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft

The aftermath of the SS Lebensborn association continues to be felt in legal, media-related, and scientific circles, as well as in individual cases of coming to terms with the past. For this reason, the Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War organized an informal exchange and networking meeting in 2022 for people who were born in the Lebensborn maternity home in Wienerwald between 1938 and 1945. A public evening event and discussion in Sankt Pölten presented the research to the public. In this research project, in-depth research, further events, and publications, especially in Lower Austria, serve the institute’s educational work. Through lectures and readings, personal encounters, and joint exploration of historical sites, new perspectives for a constructive and critical approach to the former Wienerwald home are being developed.

Project management: Lukas Schretter, Barbara Stelzl-Marx
Project collaboration: Sabine Nachbaur, Martin Sauerbrey-Almasy, Nadjeschda Stoffers
Work contract: Michaela Tasotti
Duration: 2023–2024
Funding: Land Niederösterreich, Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, Abteilung Kunst und Kultur

In Feichtenbach, on the edge of the Wienerwald the SS association Lebensborn opened its only maternity home in what is now Austria in 1938. It served the racist population policy of the Nazi regime: only women who met the SS’s criteria were admitted. The process of coming to terms with Lebensborn is still ongoing today. After a long period of silence within families, those born in the Wienerwald home and subsequent generations are now critically examining their family history: What historical function and role did my (grand)parents play during National Socialism? How can I obtain further information? And how can I understand this information?

Exhibition flyer

Exhibition idea and concept: Lukas Schretter
Exhibition texts: Sabine Nachbaur, Martin Sauerbrey-Almasy, Lukas Schretter, Nadjeschda Stoffers, Michaela Tasotti
Exhibition design and graphics: Verena Thaller

The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War and the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz (ABPU) are cooperating in communicating the history of the Lebensborn-Heim Wienerwald in Feichtenbach. In his participatory project “Prélude:LEBENSBORN,” Darrel Toulon (ABPU) is developing new artistic approaches to intergenerational reappraisal of the history of the home. Participants include performing arts students at Anton Bruckner Private University, former Lebensborn children, second- and third-generation descendants of former Lebensborn children, research partners such as the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, and interested parties from the vicinity of the former Lebensborn-Heim Wienerwald. Individual co-researchers in the project “MEMORY LAB. Partizipative Forschung zum Lebensborn-Heim Wienerwald, 1938–1945“ are involved in the project “Prélude:LEBENSBORN.”

The social impact of research can only be expressed in figures and quantitative metrics to a limited extent. The scientific team and co-researchers of the “MEMORY LAB. Partizipative Forschung zum Lebensborn-Heim Wienerwald, 1938–1945“ therefore provide insight into how citizens are actively involved in the research process in this project in four short videos. Examples from the co-research illustrate how the project is designed and implemented. They also show the significance and benefits that participatory research can have in society and in the historical sciences.

The videos are available here.

Team: Johanna B. (co-researcher), Elke K. (co-researcher), Katharina K. (co-researcher), Mathieu Mahve-Beydokhti (LBG OIS Center), Camillo Meinhart (Biofaction), Martin Sauerbrey-Almasy (BIK–MEMORY LAB), Lukas Schretter (BIK–MEMORY LAB), Nadjeschda Stoffers (BIK–MEMORY LAB), Michaela Tasotti (BIK–MEMORY LAB), Ulrike Z. (co-researcher)
Duration: 2024
Förderung: Open Innovation in Science Center der Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft