The former Austin Hospital for Incurables was founded in 1882. In the 1980s it was where I did the early years of my clinical training. Today, it is the only hospital in Melbourne that retains some of its 19th century and early 20th century buildings, including the Davies Building (1889-90 – slated for demolition), the Kronheimer Building (1903 – ditto), the Gate Lodge (1906-7 – overlooking Heidelberg Station), the former Marian Drummond Nurses’ Home (1913-14), Zeltner Hall (1917 – pictured, now framed by the Olivia Newton-John Centre), and the former Edward Wilson Nurses’ Home (1925). The dilapidated Davies Building was once a ward for long-term spinal injury patients, one of its more famous residents being Franz Stampfl – coach of Roger Bannister (four-minute mile) and Ralph Doubell (1968 Olympic 800 metres champion). The Kronheimer Building was entirely funded through a donation from German-Jewish immigrant and tobacco merchant, Joseph Kronheimer, as a sanitorium for tuberculosis sufferers.

Image source: Ashley Watson

Date visited: 3 November 2018