On the grounds of Landgoed Vrederust in Halsteren, next to the institution’s own cemetery, stands the former mortuary of the psychiatric hospital established here in 1886. For decades, Vrederust functioned as a largely self-contained care community, where admission, treatment, and eventually burial all took place within the same estate.

The mortuary reflects that closed structure. The tiled preparation room contains a stainless-steel table with drainage, used for the final care and preparation of the deceased. Its functional finish ceramic wall tiles, fluorescent lighting, and simple work surfaces corresponds with hygiene standards and architectural styles typical of the 1960–1980 period. Adjacent to it is a modest reception or farewell room with brick walls and a large stained-glass window, where relatives could gather for a small and private moment of goodbye.

Until well into the twentieth century, it was common for large care institutions to operate their own mortuary, partly because not every patient had family able to arrange a funeral elsewhere. With the centralisation of funeral services in the 1990s, the building lost its function. Today, it remains a quiet reminder of a time when Vrederust managed the full cycle of life and death within the boundaries of the estate.