The historic building located behind the former courthouse of the municipality of Kirchberg am Wagram – which has always been referred to locally as the “prison” – was, according to eyewitness accounts, one of the most dreadful children’s homes in Austria throughout its history. After its closure as an children’s home, it was largely preserved in its original state and temporarily used as a federal document archive. Today, the building stands completely empty. In the summer of 2017, it was used as a project space for artists during the Festival of the Lower Austrian Mostviertel Region. Further use of the building remains unclear.

The history of the Federal Educational Institution Kaiserebersdorf and its branch in Kirchberg am Wagram is closely linked to key professionalization steps in the fields of Social Pedagogy, Social Work, and Child and Youth Psychology. The introduction of casework and group counseling into the Austrian justice system is closely associated with individuals such as Sepp Schindler and Dr. Otto Wilfert, who initiated reform measures in leadership positions.

Details regarding the connection between the actual municipality of Kirchberg and the concepts of education, punishment, and correctional practices remain largely unprocessed and unexplored to this day.

A project aimed at documenting and addressing the full history in this context would serve both as a platform for eyewitnesses to share their experiences and as a contribution to answering the question of the building’s future use. In addition to document analysis, methods of social space research offer a way to connect past and future through participatory approaches.