Only fools rush in.....

unless, of course, you are talking about the Fools Tower in Vienna, Austria, in which case, no one in their right mind would rush in.

If being plagued by the daunting fact that Austria is the birthplace of Hitler, welcome to an even darker history of the abused and the tortured of Vienna, Austria.

The Narrenturm, Europe's oldest building and one of the first asylums, was built in 1784 to accommodate psychiatric patients and now is home to the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum.

This medieval prison looking structure is a 5-story fortress built by Isidore Canevale for Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II.  The massive structure was completed with underground passages and dungeons and was actually built over a Capuchin Monastery.  It is believed that the monks hid their own mentally-deficient brethren there.  It is a sprawling 28 room building designed in a circular fashion.  There was also a lightning rod installed on the roof. 

The asylum contained 139 individual cells for the mentally ill sent there.  They were referred to as inmates, lunatics, idiots, and madmen.  These inmates were essentially treated like animals and often times chained to the walls.  Their sleeping provisions included just a single straw mat for the floor.

Photo from Wiki

These people were essentially locked away in unsanitary conditions from others in society because of their lunacy.  They were ridiculed, degraded, and physically abused.  Sick patients were provided with little-to-no treatments.

Today, the museum houses at least 4,000 extremely shocking anomalies from the past which a few are never on display to the public but can be viewed with special arrangements.  They are said to have a stillborn "devil baby" born in 1827 that looks like Satan himself. 

The Viennese people are said to be conflicted by which scenario is actually the worst when it comes to the history of this fortress.  The rounding up and abuse of the poor or the grotesque abnormalities currently residing there.  Either way, that is enough spooky, sadness to last until next Halloween.

Just a little example of what you might encounter if you dare to visit.

Photo from Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum.