| Everts wrote about his visit to Hildesheim Asylum on pages 17-18 of a report he sent to the provincial authorities of Noord-Holland on 22 February 1848, which is now held at Haarlem's Rijksarchief in Noord-Holland, Toegang 16, Inv. No. 2380. Everts reported that until the year of his visit, the extensive facilities at Hildesheim were housed in two different large ex-monastery buildings, separated by large and scenic gardens, and located just within the limits of the town of Hildesheim. One building accommodated acute patients, the other chronic patients. In the first half of 1847, further spacious and attractive facilities were opened for chronic patients on the other side of Hildesheim, quite a distance from the existing buildings. The intention, as far as Everts understood it, was to house the institution’s female patients in the new building, leaving the old buildings devoted to the care of its male patients. Everts reported that there was a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside from the acute patients’ building, due to its hilltop location, but its interior, and especially its bisecting corridors (which were long, narrow and dark) reminded him of its past use as a monastery. In contrast, the other buildings at Hildesheim lay on lower, level ground, and boasted corridors which were spacious, broad and light, and only bordered by rooms on one side. Though Everts acknowledged that the facilities at Hildesheim appeared to have been much improved in recent years, particularly by the addition of the new building, he did not consider that they were comparable in quality to those he had seen at Zwiefalten or Stephansfeld. Nor did he consider the proximity of the buildings to Hildesheim suitable. |
