Maria Theresiastraat 74 , 3000, Leuven, Belgium
Belgium
Telephone
003216284711
Year Constructed
1869
Status of Establishment
custodial
Additional information
The auxiliary prison of Leuven was first occupied between 1867 and 1869. This star-shaped prison was built according to the Ducpétiaux model and based on an individual confinement regime. The solitary imprisonment served the moral improvement of the delinquent. The denomination auxiliary prison allegedly refers to its function as house of arrest supporting the criminal court, as opposed to the central prison that had a state function as house for the enforcement of (long) sentences. Others, however, think it is a poor translation from the French \”prison secondaire\””. In Leuven, names such as ‘Het Klein Huis’ (the small house) and later ‘Leuven-Hulp’ (auxilliary prison of Leuven) became current quickly.Around the turn of the previous century, the scientific interest in the cause and the treatment of deviant behaviour grew, changing the penitentiary practices to a large extent. Consequently, a psychiatric ward was created in a number of prisons. The psychiatric ward of the auxiliary prison was first occupied on 1 January 1923. Particular attention for the psychiatric patient is still an important policy in Leuven-Hulp.The strict individual regime was only revised after WW II. The first (limited) workshops for communal labour were created in the second half of the seventies, as was the installation of a common yard on which the prisoners could talk to each other freely. In 1966, the female prisoners were transferred from Leuven-Hulp to the prison of Forest.”