Refuge of St. Joseph, Breitenfurt Monastery FDC

The House of Refuge "Zum Heiligen Josef"  in Breitenfurt near Vienna, Hauptstraße 58, was founded in 1873 by the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity (FDC) as a shelter for "maids unfit for work". Domestic workers who had become unable to work and were now on the street without a pension or other support were taken in here by the caring sisters.

A second advantage of the house was that it also served as a nursing home for sick sisters. One of the common diseases in earlier times was pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).