Location: Schlossplatz 1, 8502 Lannach
In 1943, a “Institute for Plant Genetics” operated by the SS was established at the castle, where nine Jehovah’s Witnesses were used as concentration camp prisoners for forced labor. Here, the “Vavilov World Collection,” the largest collection of plant genetic material at the time, was researched. The SS had previously stolen the material from the Soviet Union, specifically from what is now Ukraine and Belarus.
Franz Kandler, born in 1878, purchased the “Herrschaft” of Lannach, including Lannach Castle, on November 9, 1905. After the “Anschluss” of Austria to Nazi Germany, he leased the castle to the “SS Verfügungsgruppe.” Following the outbreak of World War II, a permanent kindergarten operated by the National Socialist People’s Welfare (NSV) was established at the castle and opened on September 23, 1939. After the departure of the “SS Verfügungsgruppe,” the II and III Companies of the Graz-Lannach Police Training Battalion moved in on June 1, 1940. The castle continued to serve as a training facility for various police units at least until September 1942.
In 1943, Lannach Castle was confiscated by the “SS Agricultural Research Institute” based on the “Reichsleistungsgesetz” (Reich Performance Law), with the official decree issued 11 months later. Franz Kandler was pressured by the Reich Governor of Styria for over a year to sell or lease the estate. The “Institute for Plant Genetics” was opened at Lannach Castle on November 1, 1943, with Heinz Brücher appointed as its director. The largest collection of plant genetic material, the “Vavilov World Collection,” previously stolen by the SS from the Soviet Union, was transported to Lannach and researched there. The goal was to successfully breed “cold-resistant, drought-resistant,” and “fast-growing crops” for the “Eastern region” using the Russian and Tibetan plant varieties.
In addition to a civilian staff, nine “Bible Students” (Jehovah’s Witnesses) were employed in the agricultural work of the Institute starting at the end of March 1944. These were prisoners from the women’s concentration camp Ravensbrück, who had been brought to Lannach via Mittersill. From an administrative standpoint, Lannach was considered a subcamp of the Mittersill satellite camp, which in turn had been under the jurisdiction of Ravensbrück until September 15, 1944, before being transferred to the women’s camp in Mauthausen. Therefore, the prisoners in Lannach were administered from Mittersill. No special SS guard force for the Lannach external command has been documented, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses were considered “escape-proof.” Compared to the labor conditions in Ravensbrück, the treatment of prisoners at Lannach Castle was noticeably better. It is also established that up to 20 prisoners of war were employed at the Institute. The end of the war also marked the end of the “Institute for Plant Genetics” at Lannach. The Lannacher Heilmittel GmbH, which was founded in 1947, had no connection to the SS research facility and cannot be considered a successor institution. Today, the company GL Pharma is headquartered at Lannach Castle and is owned by the Bartenstein family.
Literature: Stefan Karner/Heide Gsell/Philipp Lesiak, Schloss Lannach 1938–1949. Graz 2008.
Text: Markus Rieger-Roschitz / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on War Consequences
