Reitgjerdet sykehus, Former psychiatric hospital in Trondheim, Norway.
Reitgjerdet sykehus is a former hospital in Trondheim made up of several red brick buildings spread across open grounds. The complex groups together ward buildings, an administrative block, and service structures, all built in a style typical of Norwegian institutional architecture.
The site opened in 1861 as a hospital for leprosy patients and was converted to psychiatric use in 1923. The change came as leprosy declined in Norway and the need for psychiatric care grew across the country.
The red brick buildings stand as a reminder of how Norwegian society once separated people with mental illness from everyday life. Visitors who walk the grounds today can sense the weight of that separation in the layout of the complex, where patients lived apart from the outside world.
The site sits outside Trondheim's city center and is easiest to reach by car. Some parts of the grounds may not be open to the public, so it is worth checking access conditions before visiting.
From 1961, the facility took on a specialized role within Norwegian psychiatry by admitting only male patients considered too difficult to manage in other institutions. This made it one of the few places in the country with that particular function.
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