This lush, green English-style park with winding paths is built on water. About a hundred years ago water came down here from the higher forest grounds (today’s Fruängen) through the entire Långbro hospital area all the way to the current Johan Skytteskolan school. When the hospital was built, a dam was created and the waterflow was buried in culverts.
The park and the pond played an important part in the hospital life. It was a place for relaxation and contemplation for the patients as well as the staff. In cold winters, patients and children who lived in the area went ice skating and played hockey on the pond. Unfortunately, the water also caused tragedies.
"Alfred Karlsson, admitted July 6, 1910, suffering from an acute alcohol hallucinosis; had shown himself anxious and worried, so it was said that he ... should not be left out of sight; On October 2, however, an accident occurred, in which case the patient, who requested to go to the toilet, was left alone by the nurse. As he walked through the corridor of the day room, he jumped out of the open ventilation window (which had not yet received a safety chain) and drowned himself in the pond. " (from “The Chief Inspector's Annual Report", 1910)
