About the Museum

The Museum of Madness is dedicated to the study, preservation and presentation of the history of Castle Cmurek by Trate, which is one of the oldest and largest castles in Slovenia.

The Museum is supported by the joint efforts of local residents from both the Slovenian and the Austrian sides of the Mura River, which together we view as a single heritage community.

Our areas of interest include the fields of paleontology, archaeology, history, architecture, visual arts, music, literature, culture, the natural environment and cross-border collaboration.

We have established a locally-based cross-border center open to the world.

We are continuously developing a participatory museum that presents a problematic heritage.

We create spaces of memory and respect.

Mission

The Museum of Madness strives to create a comprehensive representation of the phenomenon of madness that will be accessible and relevant to individuals and groups at both the professional and layperson levels, with the ultimate goal of broadening the concept, bringing it up to date, removing tabus, and detaching it from the process of institutionalisation. We work closely with Slovenian organisations in this field as well as similar organisations and institutions across Europe and worldwide.

Through the Museum of Madness we strive to preserve and revitalise Castle Cmurek, the building in which the State Asylum for the Mentally and Neurologically Ill at Hrastovec – Trate operated for decades, thus contributing, we hope, to the ongoing process of de-institutionalising mental illness in Slovenia.

Vision

In line with our mission, the Museum of Madness aims to create a full-spectrum cultural, professional, social and tourist centre. We aim to revive the cultural and natural heritage of the surroundings of Castle Cmurek, incentivize the potential of the local community, and integrate our work into the wider region, regardless of the national border nearby. In doing so, we respect the principles of sustainable development and care for the environment.

194_Schloss_Ober-Mureck,_Trate_-_J.F.Kai

History

The earliest mention of Castle Crumb dates to the 12th century. The Styrian Stubenberg family governed the castle from 1401 to 1931.

In the brief period between the First and Second World Wars the owner of the castle was Anton Mally. Following World War II the Yugoslav government nationalized the castle and established an Asylum for the Mentally and Neurologically Ill.

In 2004 the government closed the asylum on the premise that such institutions are inhumane. This was the first such facility that the Slovene government closed as part of a larger program of deinstitutionalization. We have repurposed it as a place of memory.