A century of German psychiatry (1899-1999)

Abstract

The century of German psychiatry between 1899 and 1999 was shaped by creative and catastrophic contrasts. For the beginning and the end these contrasts and the tensions between them can be personalized by the names of Kraepelin and Freud. During the time in between there was the unfolding of the ideas of schizophrenia, classical psychiatry, psychotherapy, structural theories, pharmaco-psychiatry, anthropological psychiatry, social psychiatry and of many other creative theories and methods in manyfold ways. But during the time in between there was also Nazi psychiatry. In historical perspective not only the murdering of countless psychiatric patients was a disaster. Expulsion, intellectual exhaustion, death of many psychiatrists and war damages too had catastrophic consequences. Only seemingly as a paradox Nazi time and its sequels were followed by global acknowledgement for and globalization of German psychiatry. But this period has come to an end too. Resources and man power are available, the path is free for completely new ideas.