Hildesheim asylum
institution
The German city of Hildesheim had a state mental hospital from 1827 to 1946, and Henry Rathbone, the man who fought Abraham Lincoln's assassin, was sent to an asylum in Hildesheim, where he died in 1911.
Who they are
The Hildesheim asylum was a state mental hospital in the city of Hildesheim, Germany, opened on 30 May 1827 in the buildings of the former St. Michael's monastery [1].
What they do
It was planned for 250 patients. Overcrowding and bad hygiene caused an outbreak of dysentery and cholera there in 1870. In the First World War more patients died because they were not properly cared for and fed. In 1941, under the Nazi "euthanasia" programme known as T4, about 440 of its patients were taken away and murdered; its director, Hermann Grimme, wrote a memorandum against the killings that February. It was closed in 1946.
How it works
Henry Rathbone was a former U.S. Army major who had been in Lincoln's box the night Lincoln was shot. After he killed his wife Clara Harris in Hanover in December 1883, he was committed to "an asylum for the criminally insane in Hildesheim". Other accounts call it "the Hildesheim Asylum for the Criminal Insane". One 1971 account says he lived in luxury in that asylum, tried from time to time to win his release, and finally gave up. In 1910 the asylum's doctors reported that he was failing, and he died in Hildesheim on 14 August 1911, aged 74.
Why it matters
No record has been found that names Rathbone as a patient of this particular state hospital, and no admission record or patient file for him has been found. So whether he was held in this hospital, and what his years there were like, rest on later retellings.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #200] WHAT THE RATHBONE SOURCES CALL IT. 'He was convicted and committed to an asylum for the criminally insane in Hildesheim' (
en.wikipedia.org); 'in the Asylum for the Criminal Insane , Hildesheim, Germany' (
politicalgraveyard.com); 'incarcerated at Hanover’s Hildesheim Asylum' (
nationalgeographic.com); 'He was sentenced to the Hilde-sheim Asylum for the Criminal In-sane.' (
upload.wikimedia.org) 'In this institution in Hanover, Germany, Rathbone lived in luxury.' (
upload.wikimedia.org)
THE HILDESHEIM ASYLUM’S OWN HISTORY (Kirchengemeindelexikon). 'Am 30. Mai 1827 wurde die Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Hildesheim in den Gebäuden des 1803 aufgelösten Michaelisklosters eröffnet.' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de) 'Insgesamt waren für die Landes Heil- und Pflegeanstalt 250 Patientinnen und Patienten vorgesehen.' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de) 'Überfüllung und schlechte hygienische Zustände führten 1870 zu einem Ruhr- und Choleraausbruch im Magdalenenkloster' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de); 'während des Ersten Weltkriegs stieg die Zahl der Todesfälle unter den Patientinnen und Patienten, da sie nicht ausreichend versorgt und ernährt wurden.' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de) '1941 wurden etwa 440 von ihnen abtransportiert und ermordet (sogenannte T4-Aktion)' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de); 'Hermann Grimme, seit 1930 Direktor der Anstalt, verfasste im Februar 1941 eine Denkschrift gegen die „Euthanasie“-Morde.' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de) 'Ein Jahr nach Kriegsende wurde die Heil- und Pflegeanstalt 1946 aufgelöst.' (
kirchengemeindelexikon.de)
RATHBONE THERE. Committed after the 1884 proceeding: 'Rather than sentenced to prison, Henry was committed to an asylum in Hildesheim, Germany. He remained there for over 25 years until his death in 1911.' (
lincolnconspirators.com) 'but finally gave up all hope of securing his freedom and awaited the end in some tranquility.' (
upload.wikimedia.org) 'In September, 1910, the physicians of the asylum reported that Rath-bone was failing rapidly and that he would not survive long.' (
upload.wikimedia.org) / 'On August 31, 1910, it was reported that he was "near death".' (
en.wikipedia.org) 'he died more than 25 years later, in the Asylum for the Criminal Insane , Hildesheim, Germany , August 14, 1911 (age 74 years, 44 days ).' (
politicalgraveyard.com) 'He died there on August 14, 1911, 46 years after that traumatic night at Ford’s Theatre.' (
nationalgeographic.com)
HELD. Whether the “asylum for the criminally insane” of the Rathbone sources is the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt in the former Michaelis monastery: no source read names Rathbone and the institution together (Oct 2026). Not found: his admission date, the asylum’s name in 1884, any clinical register, any record of “private quarters” or of what he believed while there. Would settle: the asylum’s patient register and case file for 1884–1911.
THE OCTOBER 2026 RESEARCH REPORT SAID 'Asylum registers document that Rathbone was maintained in private institutional quarters funded by his American estate' (report.txt) and that he 'hallucinated that asylum attendants were attempting to poison his food' (report.txt); no source for either was found. Its cited source says only 'Rathbone spent the rest of his life in the asylum for the criminally insane in Hildesheim, Germany.' (
military-history.fandom.com)
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