If you are planning to visit the psychodrama historical sites in Vienna and surroundings, read this post!
As you probably know, J.L Moreno lived in Austria from 1895 to 1925. CLICK ON THIS MAP
He lived with his parents in Castellezgasse 15. You can take a walk around Augarten Park where the young J.L. Moreno imagined Psychodrama, playing with the children and noting their spontaneity and creativity. And how about having a good breakfast in his favourite coffee house? It is the Cafe Museum, Operngasse 7, in the center of Vienna, not far from the Opera House.
J.L. Moreno studied at the medical Faculty of the University of Vienna. This University was founded in 1365.
Some medical Nobel Prize winners including Robert Barany, Julius Wagner-Jauregg, and , later, Konrad Lorenz studied here at the beginning of the last century. J.L. Moreno became doctor in medicine in 1917.
During his studies, he dealt with social marginal groups in the Viennese red light district in Spittelberg, near the Museum quarter. After his doctorate, he worked at the refugee camp in Mitterndorf a. d. Fischa. These experiences formed the basis for his work on sociometry, observing and understanding social attraction and repulsion within groups.
Mitterndorf a. d. Fischa is at 20 kilometres southeast of Vienna, near Fischa river.
You can reach this attractive village by train (Vienna to Gramatneusiedl) and bus (from station Gramatneusiedl to Mitterndorf/Fischa, Grenzgasse). There are still some houses from the former camp but they are currently used by individuals or council associations having ( recently ) been renovated. In front of the former buildings there are memorial plaques explaining how the buildings were used. You can see an old photo too. The buildings are around the bus station besides a ruined factory-building (which was even part of the former refugee camp): there is touching monument in TrentinoStrasse. From 1915 to 1919 the communities of Gramatneusiedl, Mitterndorf an der Fischa, and Moosbrunn formed a “K(aiserlich) k(önigliches) Barackenlager” (imperial and royal hutment).
If you are interested in learning more about these sociological themes, you can also visit the Marienthal-Museum in Gramatneusiedl (Station Para Chemie - you can reach it by the same bus to Mitterndorf).
And …do you know where the Stegreiftheatre was founded? The Theatre of Spontaneity was situated in Maysedergasse 2, near Sacher Café, in Vienna. Around 1922 J.L. Moreno rented a room from the Austrian Association of Artists, to conduct improvisation theatre groups with early approaches of Psychodrama. In 1924 he published his book “Das Stegreiftheater”. The usual opening hours are : Friday 5 – 7 p.m., Saturday 4 – 7 p.m. (at exhibitions times only). More: http://www.vbkoe.org/kontakt/
In Vienna you can visit JL Moreno’s tomb on which is written one of his most famous sentences: “Here lies the man who brought laughter and joy into psychiatry”. In 1993 his urn was brought from USA to Vienna by the Austrian Literature Society. The place of the tomb is in Zentralfriedhof, Krematorium, (Abteilung 1, Ring 1, Gruppe 5, Nummer 1). The entrance is in Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234.
If you wish you can also enjoy a trip by train to Bad Vöslau, at 35 km south of Vienna, a charming spa town also famous for being the cradle of Austrian red wine cultivation.
After the First World War, J.L. Moreno worked as a doctor in the former KAMMGARN Fabrik (now: Kammgranzentrum). You can also visit the City Museum of Bad Vöslau, where you can learn more about Bad Vöslau, the former Kammgarnfabrik and about J.L. Moreno too. You can visit it from May to October. More Information: http://www.stadtmuseumbadvoeslau.at/
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Near the thermal baths, there is the House of the Wunderdoktor, in Maital 4: J.L. Moreno lived there from 1919 to 1925.
Unfortunately you cannot go inside the house, but there is a plaque outside in commemoration of the “Wunderdoktor”. JL Moreno loved this house very much. He returned from U.S.A. to visit it again in 1969. It was a touching celebration and many pictures were taken with him at the entrance of the house.
One of our aims is to restore Moreno’s house and open it up as museum. We are working closely with the owner and the mayor on this project which you read about on our website.
If you are lucky enough to visit any of these places associated with Moreno we would be delighted if you sent us by facebook any suggestions, photos etc to help us enrich and update our information
Enjoy your visit
