Grafeneck killing centre
building in Gomadingen, Tübingen Government Region, Bade-Württemberg, Germany
The Grafeneck killing centre (German: NS-Tötungsanstalt Grafeneck) housed in Grafeneck Castle was one of Nazi Germany's extermination centres as part of their forced euthanasia programme, Action T4. Today, it is a memorial site dedicated to the victims of the state-authorised programme.
At least 10,500 mentally and physically disabled people, predominantly from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, were killed there during 1940. It was one of the first places in Nazi Germany where people were killed in large numbers in a gas chamber using carbon monoxide. This was the beginning of the Nazi killing of the ill and disabled.
Grafeneck was also the central office of the "Charitable Ambulance Transport GmbH" (Gekrat), which was headed by Reinhold Vorberg and responsible for the transport of T4.
Location
Grafeneck is a castle-like property in Grafeneck, a part of the municipality of Gomadingen in Baden-Württemberg.
History
Built around 1560, the Grafeneck Castle served as a hunting lodge for the Dukes of Württemberg. During the 18th century, Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg created a large Rococo palace in front of the castle, but this palace has now been lost as it is demolished. In the 19th century, it was used by the Forest Service.
“Grafeneck killing centre” enters the record as building in Gomadingen, Tübingen Government Region, Bade-Württemberg, Germany. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Grafeneck, killing and centre can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Grafeneck killing centre” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Grafeneck, killing and centre provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q319744. Authority coordinates are 48.392, 9.429. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1940 and 1560.
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This entry incorporates text from “Grafeneck killing centre” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.