28.02.-01.03.2025
Conference of German-speaking psychiatry museums at MuSeele Göppingen

GÖPPINGEN - After long preparations, a very successful conference for German-speaking psychiatry museums took place from 28 February to 1 March 2025. A total of 18 institutions from all over the world (Bremen, Leipzig, Bern, Munich, etc.) came together. The conference programme consisted of intensive working sessions and a public lecture on the pioneer of psychotherapy Franz Anton Messmer by Prof. Dr. Knubben. The programme concluded with an excursion to Nürtingen to visit the art collection of the psychiatrist couple Greta and Ottomar Domnick.

MuSeele-Newsletter April 2025 (pdf)
 

26.03.2025
150 years of psychiatric care at the Bad Schussenried site

BAD SCHUSSENRIED - The 150th anniversary of the Bad Schussenried clinic site was celebrated in a festive setting. The event focussed on the history of the clinic and current developments.

Numerous guests from politics, healthcare and society accepted the invitation to the library hall of the New Monastery (Neues Kloster) in Bad Schussenried to honour the long history of psychiatric care in the region.

read more (pdf) >>
 

24.03.2025
Travelling exhibition of the Württemberg Psychiatry Museum at the Sigmaringen State Archives

SIGMARINGEN - the new 2024 travelling exhibition ‘Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest, 1933-1945’ can now be seen at the Sigmaringen State Archives after Zwiefalten, Pfronstetten, Stuttgart, Münsingen and Ravensburg. The Sigmaringen State Archives is a state institution that works closely with the Centres for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg. Here, the pre-sorted files of the aforementioned clinic locations, which are intended for preservation, are stored appropriately and made available for research. The co-operation between the NDTs in the federal state and the state archives of the Landesarchiv is good and lively, especially with regard to the historical research of our NDT. And so it makes sense that the new travelling exhibition of our psychiatry museum is now also being shown as part of a lively cycle of temporary exhibitions at the Sigmaringen State Archives - probably until 16 May this year.
 

NS-Euthanasie: In Grafeneck sterben über 10.000 kranke Menschen. Autor: Christoph Wartenberg, Schwäbische Zeitung vom 20.03.2025
 

15.03.2025
'Baden Psychiatry Museum' celebrates its anniversary

ACHERN - The ‘Illenau Arcade Museum’, which has long been supported by the Wuerttemberg Psychiatry Museum of the Centre for Psychiatry South Wuerttemberg, celebrated its tenth birthday with a ceremony on 15 March 2025. On Saturday evening, the renovated festival hall, a former part of the old Illenau asylum and nursing home opened in 1842 by Christian F.W. Roller (1802-1878), which is now part of the town of Achern, which has since grown considerably, was packed to the rafters with people interested in the history of the famous ‘Illenau’. A ceremony was held to mark the tenth anniversary of the Illenau Arkaden Museum and Bisto catering (inclusive operation) in the ballroom of the new cultural forum.
 
Photo : Ziele und Visionen der Begegnungsstätte | Förderkreis Forum Illenau e.V.
 

11.03.2025
Newspaper article about the relatives' enquiries about the fate of the “T4” victims

RAVENSBURG - More than 80 years have passed since the crimes committed against mentally ill and mentally handicapped people as part of the ‘centralised’ and ‘decentralised euthanasia’ under National Socialism. The grandchildren of those murdered are looking for an explanation and clarification of the events of that time, which were kept quiet for many decades - even by their parents' generation. Since the establishment of the Grey Bus Memorial in 2007 and the social resonance it has triggered at both regional and national level, the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg has regularly received enquiries from relatives, now once a week throughout the year. The article by Bernd Adler published in the ‘Schwäbische Zeitung’ on 11 March 2025 ‘Hundreds of people murdered: The relatives can't rest‘ reports on the Research Unit's work with relatives’ enquiries, which is not infrequently laborious against the backdrop of often poor sources.

The online version of the article appeared in the ‘Schwäbische Zeitung’ on 5 March 2025 and can be viewed free of charge at this link:
Hunderte Menschen ermordet: Ein Verbrechen, das sich bis heute nicht aufklären lässt
 

24.02.2025
Biography of Schussenried's first female doctor published by Zwiefalter Verlag ‘Psychiatrie und Geschichte’

ZWIEFALTEN - The eighth volume in the academic series ‘Psychiatry, culture and society in historical perspective’ sets out on a biographical search for one of the first female doctors in Württemberg psychiatry. With the title ‘A life between emancipation and tradition - Dr Malvine Rhoden, née Weiss. A biographical search for traces of the first ‘female doctor’ at the Royal Sanatorium Schussenried (1911)’, Dr Uta Kanis-Seyfried, a member of the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg, has published an impressive book on the first woman in medicine, the first “female doctor”, as it was called at the time.

read more (pdf) >>

Information about the book:
Published by Psychiatrie und Geschichte, Zwiefalten
Hardback, 272 pages.
ISBN 978-3-931200-33-6 | Price: 25,90 Euro

The book can be purchased directly from the publisher:
Forschungsbereich Geschichte und Ethik in der Medizin/ Verlag Psychiatrie und Geschichte

Write to us or call us and you will receive the book on account by post.
Zwiefalten Library: 0049 7373-10-3223
 

 

20.02.2025
Travelling exhibition ‘Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten’ will be in the Sigmaringen State Archives from mid-March 2025

SIGMARINGEN - The new travelling exhibition ‘Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten 1933-1945’, which has now been presented at four locations in Baden-Wuerttemberg and is currently on display at the Centre for Psychiatry Süuedwürttemberg-Weissenau, can be viewed at the Sigmaringen State Archives from 17 March to 16 May 2025.

 

27.01.2025
‘Monument to the grey buses’ has been in Chemnitz since the end of January 2025

CHEMNITZ/RAVENSBURG - The ‘Monument to the Grey Buses’ has moved on: The mobile part of the memorial was moved from Erlangen to Chemnitz for Remembrance Day on 27 January. Together with Gorizia (Italy), Chemnitz has been the European Capital of Culture since January.

Through the mediation of the artists Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz and the representative of the owner of the monument Prof. Thomas Müller (Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg) the ‘Monument to the Grey Buses’ has moved on from its last location, in Erlangen, Bavaria. The occasion for this initiative of remembrance and reminder is the Capital of Culture Year 2025 in Chemnitz.
 

27.01.2025
Travelling exhibition „Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten“ has been at the Centre for Psychiatry Südwürttemberg-Weissenau since the end of January

WEISSENAU - The new travelling exhibition „Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten 1933-1945“ was opened on 27 January, the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism, at the Centre for Psychiatry Südwürttmberg-Weissenau and will be on display there until 13 March. The exhibition can be viewed on weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm and admission is free.

 

18.11.2024
Special exhibition ‘Dellmensingen Castle 1942. A forced Jewish retirement home in Württemberg’ in Ulm will be extended until the end of March 2025

ULM - Since 1 September 2024, the Documentation Centre / Oberer Kuhberg Concentration Camp Memorial (DZOK) has been hosting a special exhibition on the forced ghettoisation of Jewish people in German towns and villages as a prehistory of the Shoah. With the aim of marginalising and exterminating European Jewry by National Socialist Germany, a number of Jewish forced old people's homes were established in Württemberg from autumn 1941, including in Dellmensingen Castle and in the former poorhouse in Tigerfeld, near Zwiefalten. In August 1942, the forced old people's homes were closed and the inmates deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. One part of the special exhibition is the content developed by the Research Unit for the History and Ethics in Medicine, which focuses on the fate of Jewish patients at the former Zwiefalten asylums and patients who were transferred there and has been presented at various locations (e.g. Zwiefalten, Bad Schussenried, Weissenau, Blaustein) in recent years. Due to the great public interest, the exhibition period has been extended until 31 March 2025 (originally until 10 November 2024).

Flyer (pdf)
Link:
Sonderausstellung „Schloss Dellmensingen 1942. Ein jüdisches Zwangsaltenheim in Württemberg“ – DZOK Ulm (dzok-ulm.de)
 

11.11.2024
Travelling exhibition ‘Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten’ has been in Münsingen (Swabian Alb) since the beginning of November

MÜNSINGEN - After Zwiefalten, Pfronstetten and Stuttgart, the new travelling exhibition ‘Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten 1933-1945’ has arrived in Münsingen on the Swabian Alb. Münsingen's history under National Socialism is closely intertwined with that of the Zwiefalten asylum: Not only was the Grafeneck killing centre set up in the immediate vicinity of the former district town. People such as the Münsingen teacher Andreas Bückle (newly introduced in the exhibition) were also victims of the murders of the sick. The Münsingen State Health Office worked together with the asylum in the hereditary-biological inventory of the population and in the implementation of forced sterilisations. After the end of the war, staff from the Zwiefalten asylum were interned in the prison of the district court. Dr Eugen Stähle, the main perpetrator of Nazi ‘euthanasia’ in Wuerttemberg, died in the Münsingen hospital in 1948.
The exhibition, which has been expanded to include five new roll-ups, was opened on 7 November with a vernissage in the Zehntscheuer Münsingen and can be visited until 10 January 2025.

Poster (pdf)
City of Münsingen, event information:
Wanderausstellung "Psychiatrie und Nationalsozialismus im Deutschen Südwesten" | Stadt Münsingen (muensingen.de)
Von der Ausgrenzung bis zur Vernichtung (pdf) (Autor: Ralph Bausinger, Alb-Bote, 14.11.2024)
 

16.10.2024
New publication in the series “Psychiatric-historical vignettes. Psychiatry in history, literature and art” from the publisher “Psychiatrie und Geschichte” (Zwiefalten)

ZWIEFALTEN / WEISSENAU - A few days ago, an autobiographical text by the highly acclaimed, honoured and multi-award-winning Italian artist Alda Merini (1931-2009) “The other truth. Diary of someone different” was published by “Psychiatrie und Geschichte” (Zwiefalten). The Italian poet and novelist, who has yet to be discovered in Germany, had to deal with the consequences of mental illness throughout her life. In her work, translated into German by Marco Grosse, she looks back on her decades-long stay in a psychiatric institution, which was characterised by humiliation and electric shock treatments as well as love and affection. The book, published in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Stuttgart), can be obtained from the publisher “Psychiatrie und Geschichte”, see flyer for details.

Flyer zum Buch "Alda Merini. Die andere Wahrheit" (PDF) >>
Bestellformular (PDF) >>

WDR 3 cultural feature: The gun at my temple is called poetry - the poet Alda Merini. By Burkhard Reinartz, from 12/10/2014, 54:13 minutes. Available until 11.10.2099:
Doku über die Dichterin Alda Merini - WDR 3 Kulturfeature - Sendungen - Programm - WDR 3 - Radio - WDR

Claussen, Johann Hinrich: Wunderbare Entdeckung für deutsche Leser. Die Dichterin Alda Merini und ihre Notate aus Psychiatrie. In: Politik & Kultur. Zeitung des deutschen Kulturrates, Nr. 3, 25.03.2025, S. 13 (PDF)

06.10.2024
Travelling exhibition “Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten” has been in Stuttgart since the end of September.

STUTTGART - The new travelling exhibition “Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German southwest using the example of Zwiefalten 1933-1945” is also enjoying a high level of response and demand beyond the region. After Zwiefalten and Pfronstetten, it has been on display at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University in Stuttgart since 19 September and can be seen there until 4 November 2024. Further information on the exhibition can be found here and in the information flyer.

Flyer zur Wanderausstellung „Psychiatrie und Nationalsozialismus im deutschen Südwesten am Beispiel Zwiefaltens“ (PDF) >>
Ausstellung: Psychiatrie und Nationalsozialismus im deutschen Südwesten (dhbw-stuttgart.de) >>
 

02.09.2024
Summer School organised by the Centre of Psychiatry of Reichenau and the University of Konstanz on Reichenau

REICHENAU - On 23/24 August 2024, the ‘Reichenau Summer School’ took place for the ninth time - traditionally in the town hall of the island community.

Organised by the Centre of Psychiatry Reichenau (Daniel Nischk, formerly Johannes Rusch) and the Centre of Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg (Thomas Müller) as well as the University of Konstanz (Dorothea Debus / Department of Philosophy; Daniela Mier / Department of Psychology), almost 50 participants met this year for discussion and exchange.
The organisation of the Summer School is equally committed to the so-called ‘translation’ of topics from philosophy, psychology and neuroscience into everyday psychiatric and psychotherapeutic practice and research. This year, the perspectives of ‘trust’ and ‘responsibility’ were analysed. With Georg Juckel (Bochum), Hans Förstl (Munich), Luc Ciompi (Bern) and Dyrk Zedlik (Leipzig), renowned psychiatrists were among the speakers who, together with the philosophers Andrea Lailach Hennrich (Constance) and Maeve Cooke (Dublin/Constance), discussed this content with regard to psychiatric and psychotherapeutic practice with each other and with the audience. A multi-layered topic with multi-layered implications.

read more (pdf) >>

Flyer Sommerschule Reichenau 2024 (pdf)
 

31.07.2024
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry Zwiefalten is mentioned in the "Museum- & Excursion Guide 2024/25" („Museums- & Ausflugs-Führer 2024/25“)

ZWIEFALTEN – Since the beginning of July 2024, the Wuerttemberg Psychiatry Museum Zwiefalten has been mentioned in the current edition of “The Excursion Guide 2024/25” for the cities and regions of Baden-Wuerttemberg Ulm / Neu-Ulm / Alb-Danube / Upper Swabia / Eastern Alb / Swabia. In addition to a brief description of the museum (p. 44), the brochure, which contains over 250 regional experiences such as museums, galleries and exhibitions, provides information on opening times, admission prices and contact details for the museum. “The Museum & Excursion Guide” (KSM Verlag, Ulm) can be viewed under the following link: Museums- und Ausflugsführer 2024/25 (calameo.com)
 

14.07.2024
4th conference “Historical knowledge and social educational mission using the example of National Socialism in Wuerttemberg”

ULM - Numerous initiatives, museums, memorials, documentation centres and research institutions in the South of Baden-Wuerttemberg deal with the various facets of National Socialist politics, Nazi crimes and the resistance against them in an impressive variety of ways. On 11 and 12 July 2024, for the fourth time, committed people and institutions from Southern Wuerttemberg and neighbouring parts of the state had the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences. In collaboration between the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine, the Documentation Centre Oberer Kuhberg (DZOK) / Concentration Camp Memorial (Ulm) and the Upper Swabia Memorial Documentation Centre (Weingarten), the conference was held on the premises of the listed Ulm Adult Education Centre, which stood for a new spiritual beginning in Ulm after the end of the war in 1945. The conference began with a tour of the Oberer Kuhberg concentration camp memorial. Like the initial conference in Ravensburg-Weissenau in 2018 and the follow-up conferences in March 2020 and July 2022 in Weingarten, this meeting serves to discuss current research and working methods in the institutions and to initiate further future collaborations, such as those that have already emerged since then. The challenges of a sustainable civil society discussion on the topics of history and remembrance against the backdrop of political developments remain a current topic of this conference format.

Tagungsprogramm (pdf)
Tagungsplakat (pdf)
https://www.hsozkult.de/conferencereport/id/fdkn-150362
 

17.05.2024
Lecture and guided tour by curators in Pfronstetten

PFRONSTETTEN– The new travelling exhibition ‘Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten 1933-1945’ can be seen in Pfronstetten Town Hall until 30 June 2024.
On Monday, 14 May 2024, Dr Bernd Reichelt gave an introductory lecture with reference to the forced Jewish old people's home in Pfronstetten-Tigerfeld, followed by a guided tour through the exhibition.
 

15.05.2024
Baden-Wuerttemberg Psychiatric History Working Group

STUTTGART - The annual conference of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Psychiatric History Working Group took place on May 7/8, 2024 at the Sonnenberg Clinic in Stuttgart. New findings from various medical history research projects were presented.

At the invitation of the SINOVA Sonnenberg-Klinik Stuttgart, the Psychiatric History Working Group (Arbeitskreis Psychiatriegeschichte Baden-Württemberg) met for its annual conference on May 7/8, 2024. In contrast to previous conferences, this time the topics of the lectures were exclusively located in the 20th century. The range of individual presentations covered the following topics, among others Psychiatry under National Socialism; presentation of a new traveling exhibition of the Zwiefalter Wuerttemberg Psychiatry Museum „Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten“; development of psychiatric institutions in the 1960s in West Germany using the example of the Wiesloch Psychiatric State Hospital; development of a new culture of remembrance in Swiss psychiatry against the background of compulsory welfare measures and out-of-home placements before 1981 as well as the drug tests carried out between 1940 and 1980 in the Muensterlingen Psychiatric Clinic. Next year, the working group will take place at the Centre of Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg, Bad Schussenried site.

Conference programme (pdf)
 

15.04.2024
On the trail of the "grey buses" in Upper Swabia

WEISSENAU / ZWIEFALTEN / GRAFENECK - As part of the “Community - Psychiatry – Culture” („Gemeinde - Psychiatrie – Kultur“) series of events, the Ravensburg and Lake Constance District Community Psychiatric Associations once again invited participants to a seminar trip to Zwiefalten and Grafeneck on 15 April.

“Psychiatry and National Socialism - On the trail of 'euthanasia' in Upper Swabia” is the title of the bus trip to Zwiefalten and Grafeneck on 15 April, which is being offered by the Community Psychiatric Associations in the Ravensburg and Lake Constance districts. The trip will be accompanied by Prof Dr Thomas Müller, Head of the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Centre for Psychiatry (ZfP) Suedwuerttemberg /Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I at the University of Ulm and the Department “Education and Knowledge” of the ZfP.
The journey began at the Ravensburg Riesenhof for the first boarding employees, interested parties and patients. For a group already waiting at the Weissenau Monument of the Grey Buses and all those arriving, Prof Thomas Müller opened the discussion, which aims to both convey historical content and contribute to a constructive debate on a contemporarily adequate culture of remembrance.
This year, the almost full coach was accompanied by a television crew from SWR and a radio reporter from the same broadcaster.

read more (pdf) >>

Links to the trip to Grafeneck:
https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/swr-aktuell-baden-wuerttemberg/sendung-19-30-uhr-vom-15-4-2024/swr-bw/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzIwMzUxMzA
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/friedrichshafen/euthanasie-in-oberschwaben-busfahrt-von-weissenau-nach-grafeneck-102.html
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/friedrichshafen/euthanasie-in-oberschwaben-busfahrt-von-weissenau-nach-grafeneck-102.html?mediaId=07a8c035-5df6-36fd-b6da-06ee68bfe86e&
 

11.04.2024
VIENNA - The annual conference of the German Society for the History of Neurosciences (DGGN) was held in Vienna from 28 to 30 September 2023.

The intensive conference programme of the renowned specialist society included numerous presentations (among others on psychiatry and psychotherapy in Vienna and Austria, psychiatry under National Socialism, the methodology of historiography, mental health in the 18th and 19th centuries) held by established historians as well as young scientists from German-speaking countries. In addition, the participants were offered two specialist excursions in the Austrian capital: a visit to the well-known Viennese clinic site "Am Steinhof" as a former state asylum (today: Klinik Penzing) and a visit to the architecturally award-winning „Klinik Landstraße“ and its psychiatric department.

Conference report on the annual meeting 2023 in: HSozKult >>

 

18.03.2024
Travelling exhibition „Psychiatry and National Socialism“ extended in Zwiefalten and from the end of April in 2024 in Pfronstetten

ZWIEFALTEN/PFRONSTETTEN - The new travelling exhibition „Psychiatry and National Socialism in the German Southwest using the example of Zwiefalten 1933-1945“ is in high demand.
The exhibition has been extended in the administrative building of the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg in Zwiefalten until 14 April 2024. From 29.04.2024 till 30.06.2024 it can be seen in the town hall in Pfronstetten (Reutlingen district, Baden-Wuerttemberg). This will be the first venue for the travelling exhibition after Zwiefalten. Further information on the exhibition can be found here and in the information flyer.
 

01.03.2024
Dear colleagues and partners of the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine,

It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of our former Medical Director

Prof. Dr. Paul-Otto Schmidt Michel

(1949–2024)

Prof Dr Paul-Otto Schmidt Michel played a key role in shaping the psychiatric landscape and worked tirelessly for the interests of disadvantaged people. To this day, his name is synonymous with social psychiatry and the reform of psychiatry in Eastern Europe in the post-reunification period. His name is also inextricably linked with psychiatric family care in Germany, now known as "Accompanied Living in Families" (BWF). In his dissertation on medical history at the Berlin Institute for the History of Medicine at the Free University of Berlin, he already dealt with 'Alternatives to institutional care'.

In 2006, he initiated the establishment of a historical Research Unit to analyse the history of medicine, and in particular the history of psychiatry and psychotherapy, to which the Wuerttemberg Psychiatry Museum, founded in 2003 and located at two sites (Zwiefalten and Bad Schussenried) since 2010, and the publishing house "Psychiatrie und Geschichte" (“Psychiatry and History”) Zwiefalten are linked.

Long before his appointment as Medical Director in 2006, Paul-Otto Schmidt Michel was involved in the social psychiatric aid organisation Arkade e.V. in the district of Ravensburg in the 1980s and was a co-founder of Pauline 13 e.V. in the early 1990s, the counterpart to Arkade in the Lake Constance district. His aim was to create structures outside the hospital system into which mentally ill patients could be discharged.

read more (pdf) >>
 

06.02.2024
ERLANGEN - The mobile part of the „Grey Bus Monument“ of the Centre for Psychiatry (ZfP) Suedwuerttemberg and the City of Ravensburg, which commemorates the victims of so-called „euthanasia“ under National Socialism, has been moved from Emmendingen (Baden-Wuerttemberg / Baden) to Erlangen (Bavaria / Franconia).

The immobile part of the „Grey Bus Monument“ of the owners ZfP Südwürttemberg / Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I of the University of Ulm on the one hand and the City of Ravensburg on the other hand has its permanent place at the old gate of the ZfP Suedwuerttemberg in Ravensburg-Weissenau. The second, mobile part of the memorial now for a considerable time, stood at the Centre for Psychiatry Emmendingen and enriched the culture of discussion in this clinic in Baden on many occasions - for example at conferences and on memorial days.
At the time, however, it was by no means intended to be on display in the „Breisgau“ for several years: A work of art in the culture of remembrance, which is committed to so-called conceptual art, needs publicity and provokes the gathering of interested parties. However, this was not only difficult to achieve during the pandemic, but at times simply prohibited, legally. This is now a thing of the past. The artists Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz, together with the ZfP Suedwuerttemberg, Prof Thomas Müller, have been planning the next location in Erlangen, Franconia, for some time now and out of the pandemic.

read more (pdf) >>

Link: "Aktion T4" in Erlangen: Wer einstieg, war bald tot (infranken.de)
„Aktion T4“ in Erlangen: Wer einstieg, war bald tot. Bei der „Aktion T4“ wurden 905 Menschen aus Erlangen ermordet. Sie wurden in Anstalten des Todes gebracht. Autor: Ralf Welz, vom 14.02.2024. In: inFranken.de.
 

27.01.2024
Central commemoration of the Centres for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg: “Never again is now!”

WEISSENAU - The victims of National Socialism were commemorated nationwide on 27 January. This year, the wreath-laying ceremony at the Weissenau site was the central commemoration of the Centres for Psychiatry (ZfP) Suedwuerttemberg. Minister Manne Lucha gave the speech.

At the beginning of the memorial service, 691 bells rang out from the tower of the cathedral church in memory of the 691 victims of the so-called “euthanasia” at the former Weissenau asylum. Manne Lucha, Minister for Social Affairs, Health and Integration of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, said in his speech: “It is still staggering today how seemingly normal people became cruel mass murderers. Today’s day of remembrance is the recurring internalisation of our shared responsibility. Remembering means working on the future. Remembering also means being a protective shield for the present.”
Since 1996, 27 January has been the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism, on which the events of that time are commemorated nationwide. The Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg at the Weissenau site organises a commemoration ceremony every year, alternately and together with the town of Ravensburg, to remember the many mentally ill and mentally handicapped people who were murdered by medical staff during the years of National Socialism. Historical lectures and exhibitions, publications and school events have been part of this commitment to coming to terms with the past at the ZfP Suedwuerttemberg for many years.

Text and photo: Stefan Angele

Link to the ZfP intranet message “Central commemoration of the Centres for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg: “Never again is now'!”, Author: Stefan Angele, 27.01.2024
Link to the SWR report “Remembering the Holocaust in Upper Swabia and on Lake Constance” and to the excerpt from the interview with Prof. Thomas Müller on the commemorative event at ZfP Weissenau, Author: Moritz Kluthe, 27.01.2024
 

18.01.2024
Book from the scientific series of the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg (ZfP) translated into English for the first time

ZWIEFALTEN - For the first time, a book from the ZfP-publishing house “Psychiatrie und Geschichte” Zwiefalten has been published in English. Volume 6 of the publisher's own scientific series was published this month by Karnac Books Limited in England.

The 2021 publication by ZfP-Verlag, which is also the book version of Andrea Huppke's dissertation in the Department of Psychology at the University of Konstanz, entitled “Global vernetzte Psychoanalyse. The International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS) between 1960 and 1980”, has now been published by a well-known and renowned British publishing house in Bicester, Oxfordshire (UK). The English version appears under the title: “Psychoanalysis Globally Networked. The Origins of the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies”. (Bicester, 2024)
The sixth volume of the scientific series “Psychiatry, Culture and Society in Historical Perspective”, edited by Thomas Müller, Uta Kanis-Seyfried and Bernd Reichelt at the Research Unit of the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Centre of Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg, has now been made available to the wider English-speaking world following a contractual agreement. The in-house ZfP-publishing house does not have the necessary global distribution structure for this. Andrea Huppke's doctorate was supervised by Prof Klaus Hoffmann (Reichenau), and reviewed by Prof Hoffmann and Prof Thomas Müller (ZfP Suedwuerttemberg), for the Department of Psychology at the University of Konstanz.

read more (pdf) >>
 

14.12.2023
Publication of the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg wins competition for international OPEN ACCESS grants

OXFORD / WEISSENAU - The book edited by Prof Waltraud Ernst (Oxford, UK) and Prof Thomas Müller, “Alcohol, psychiatry and society. Comparative and transnational perspectives, c. 1700-1990s”, which was published shortly before Christmas 2022 by Manchester University Press in England, has now been nominated by an international library and publishing network.

The new publication, with a significant editorial contribution from the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine (Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg) at Manchester University Press, was produced following a historical symposium at St Anne’s College, Oxford (UK), in June 2017. The volume deals with one of the central debates in the history of alcohol and intoxication: the ‘medicalisation’ of alcohol consumption from the 19th century onwards. Arguing that the concept of medicalisation needs to be questioned more closely, various contributions on six continents trace the changes in the use of alcohol: from clinical treatments, dietary prescriptions and as an incentive to work, to the emergence of ‘alcoholism’ as a disease category that apparently or actually requires medical intervention. The authors highlight the complexity of medicalisation in practice: limited financial resources, state control of healthcare, ideological constraints and tensions between legislation and traditional cultural practices. At the same time, they draw attention to the numerous challenges historians face when researching the relationship between medicine and alcohol. Looking beyond Europe and the USA, “Alcohol, Psychiatry and Society” offers case studies from Brazil, Chile, Nigeria, Algeria, Fiji, Japan and other countries. At the same time, the book focuses on a number of consistent themes such as definition and diagnosis, the relationship between alcohol and crime, the rhetoric of social/economic degeneration, the impact of colonialism, the role of the family in alcohol treatment, and other topics.

read more (pdf) >>
 

24.11.2023
Review of the Reichenau Summer School 2023

REICHENAU - The Reichenau Summer School took place on 25/26 August 2023. This report provides insights into this year's conference.

With the Reichenau Summer School, the Reichenau Centre for Psychiatry has established a truly unique series of conferences for 10 years now. Where else can employees from relevant professions come together in an inspiring environment - not far from the Reichenau monastery, a UNESCO heritage - to engage in dialogue with renowned scientists from philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy and related professions? The group reflects on the exciting aspects of psychiatry and psychotherapy that characterise our work but often go unnoticed in everyday life.

read more (pdf) >>
 

25.10.2023
Course of the nursing school Wangen visited ZfP

WEISSENAU - In mid-October, a class of the nursing school in Wangen visited the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg (ZfP) at the Weissenau site and got an impression of the hospital grounds during a two-hour historical tour.

As part of their lessons on the history of nursing, the teaching staff of the nursing school of the Westallgäu Clinic of the OSK Clinics (Upper Swabian Clinics) at the Wangen site were interested in the history of psychiatry at the ZfP at the Ravensburg / Weissenau site. The reason for the request on the part of teacher Ingrid Schneider was the Monument of the Grey Buses, which has gained regional and supra-regional recognition since 2007 and exemplifies the attitude of our clinic association to deal with historical and current social processes permanently, critically and for the benefit of patients.
In two hours, the site was visited and the development of the institution from a former monastery building with its extensions over many decades was made understandable. The 20 or so people present were able to ask many questions. A relationship to current political and health policy debates was established. Buildings from many decades of the 20th and 21st centuries were presented and explained with regard to their function, up to the new constructions of buildings 18 and 19. Prof. Thomas Müller, head of the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the ZfP, finally and intensively discussed the caesura of the years of National Socialism and explained the crimes of the Nazi era that can be assigned to psychiatry with regard to ideological preparation and characteristic implementation within the framework of the so-called Nazi "health policy". The culture of remembrance, also around the Monument of the Grey Buses, took a separate place here.
 

25.10.2023
The "Monument of the Grey Buses" permanently in Hadamar

HADAMAR - The "Monument of the Grey Buses" of the Centre for Psychiatry (ZfP) Suedwuerttemberg, which commemorates the victims of Nazi "euthanasia", is now, as a cast, a permanent part of the culture of remembrance in Hesse.

From May 2018 to January 2019, the mobile part of the Weissenau memorial - at that time the original - was already set up at this historic location in Hesse. A lot has happened since then. Four years of intensive work lie behind the town hall of the Hessian town of Hadamar near Limburg, behind the town council, the committed relatives of "euthanasia" victims, the memorial's sponsoring association and many supporters. On the afternoon of 18 October 2023, during the event at the town's intensely frequented "Neue Chaussee", one could feel the relief of all those involved who had worked for the permanent establishment of this memorial to the memory of the victims of "euthanasia" during the years of National Socialism in their town.
In a comprehensive act and framed by fitting musical accompaniment, the cast made in Bad Kissingen, a copy of the Weissenau monument, was handed over to the public of Hadamar. Impressive was not only the clearly visible political accompaniment by Angela Dorn, Hessian Minister of Science and Art, and Dr. Roman Poseck, Hessian Minister of Justice, who emphasised the importance of the culture of remembrance for the state and the government.

read more (pdf) >>

Press reviews:
„Denkmal der Grauen Busse in Hadamar: ‚Wir wussten alle, dass da oben Menschen verbrannt werden‘“, Autor: Benjamin Müller, 18.10.2023, hessenschau.de
„NS-Mahnmal in Hadamar. Grauer Bus erinnert an Tötungsanstalt“, Autorin: Dominique Bundt, 18.10.2023, Hit Radio FFH
„Denkmal der Grauen Busse in Hadamar eingeweiht“, 26.10.2023, www.oberlahn.de
 

05.10.2023
Historical conference on the topic of the so-called “intermediate asylums” (“Zwischenanstalten”) of “euthanasia” under National Socialism

MARBURG - On 14 and 15 September 2023, a public symposium entitled “Intermediate asylums. A special type of institution under National Socialism?” took place in Marburg, Hessen. Hosted by the Hessian Institute of Regional History (Marburg) and introduced by a greeting from the Minister of State Angela Dorn, the conference met with great interest: more than 70 participants, including academics, memorial staff, representatives of memorial and remembrance initiatives, students and interested citizens, gathered at the Hessian State Archives and discussed the organisation and execution of Nazi “euthanasia” at regional and local level. The conference focused on the so-called “intermediate asylums” or “transit asylums”, psychiatric care facilities that functioned as institutions “between” the original asylums and the killing institutions of the Action “T4” (Aktion “T4”) during National Socialism and also served to conceal the mass murder. After the end of the so-called “central euthanasia” in 1941, the “intermediate asylums” themselves became a place of targeted death: an intentional neglect, which manifested itself in the deprivation of food and medication, but also in the deliberate administration of lethal substances, determined the everyday life of the patients housed in the “intermediate institutions” for several years. The conference speakers addressed the significance of these institutions before, during and after the centrally organised Nazi murders of the mentally ill and mentally handicapped and attempted to explore the “specificity” of the “intermediate asylums”. Prof. Thomas Müller and Dr. Bernd Reichelt, who represented the Research Unit for the History and Ethics in Medicine at the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg / Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I of the University of Ulm at the conference, in their lecture dealt with the role of the Zwiefalten asylum in the context of the Action “T4” – and the further persecution and extermination policy in National Socialist psychiatry.

See the Conference Programme (PDF) >>

Link to the TV report in the programme “Hessenschau” (hr-fernsehen) “Murders in the Nazi era: conference deals with ‚intermediate institutions‘” („Morde in der NS-Zeit: Tagung befasst sich mit ‚Zwischenanstalten‘“) (16.09.2023, 19:30):
https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/hessenschau/morde-in-der-ns-zeit-tagung-befasst-sich-mit-zwischenanstalten/hr-fernsehen/ODE5Nzg2NzUtNmQ2MC00MTJjLTkwN2QtM2FkM2IzNWM5NmE0
 

12.09.2023
Museum of the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg in the Museum Association of Baden-Wuerttemberg

ZWIEFALTEN - The Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry is an integral part of museum culture in the state. Now it has been accepted into the Museum Association Baden-Wuerttemberg (Museumsverband Baden-Wuerttemberg).

The Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry has been accepted into the Museum Association Baden-Wuerttemberg e.V. in its 20th year. Founded in 2003 at the Zwiefalten site, the museum of the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg now even has two locations: precisely at the site of Wuerttemberg's oldest psychiatric clinic in Zwiefalten, and as a psychiatric history room as part of the permanent exhibition "State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg" in the former Schussenried Monastery.
The permanent exhibitions show the development of psychiatry as a medical science and the accommodation and treatment of mentally ill people over a period of 200 years. The results of the work of Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg make it possible to integrate current research into the existing exhibitions in a timely manner.

read more (pdf) >>

Further links:
Württembergisches Psychiatriemuseum Zwiefalten (forschung-bw.de)
Museumsverband Baden-Württemberg - Home (museumsverband-bw.de)
Lotto-Museumspreis | Lotto Baden-Württemberg (lotto-bw.de)
 

14.07.2023
Temporary exhibition “Artist-patients” from Wuerttemberg and Baden. (Out-)paths and (self-) realisation in Leipzig

LEIPZIG - A temporary exhibition by the Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry in Zwiefalten, which has already been on display in several places and has been well received, can be viewed at the Saxon Museum of Psychiatry (Sächsisches Psychiatriemuseum) in Leipzig from 12 July to 31 October 2023.

Since 2017, the now expanded temporary exhibition of the Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry in Zwiefalten has been presenting the portraits of people who have enriched art in various fields in their individual ways. The focus of the exhibition is on the psychiatrically experienced artists who were treated in psychiatric institutions in southern Wuerttemberg and Baden in the course of the 20th century: Friedrich Pöhler (Weissenau), Gustav Mesmer (Weissenau, Schussenried), August Natterer (Weissenau), Else Blankenhorn (Reichenau), Albert Speck (Zwiefalten) and Helene Maisch (Illenau).
The exhibition presents the biographies of the artists and shows the personality and artistic differences between these people, as well as their similarities, which can be traced back to experiences with contemporary psychiatry, among other things.

read more (pdf) >>

Poster for the travelling exhibition "Artist-patients" (PDF)
Flyer for the travelling exhibition "Artist-patients" (PDF)
 

28.06.2023
Travelling exhibition of the Documentation Centre Oberer Kuhberg Ulm (DZOK) in the State Archives Sigmaringen

Dealing with anti-democratic and inhuman language „MAN WIRD JA WOHL NOCH SAGEN DÜRFEN“ („One dare say at least…“)

SIGMARINGEN - Verbally putting people down and attacking democracy was part of the essence of National Socialism. “Lügenpresse” (“lying press”), for example, was a fighting term that was on everyone's lips between 1933 and 1945 and is being used again today: in social media, in everyday life and in the politics of right-wing populist and extreme right-wing parties. The exhibition “Man wird ja wohl noch sagen darf..." (“One dare say at least…”) presents anti-democratic and inhuman terms from then and now; as well as actually neutral terms that can be used as weapons. The exhibition asks: What do these words mean? How were they used in the past and how are they used today? And what can be done against the poisonous effect of language?
The exhibition project at Sigmaringen State Archives is the result of a cooperation between the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg/Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I of Ulm University Research Unit for the History of Medicine with the DZOK at Ulm. As a member of the working group “Places of the History of Democracy”, the State Archives of Baden-Württemberg and its affiliated state archives pursue the goal of promoting awareness of the history of German democracy and in this way stimulate democratic participation and the development of civil courage. By means of knowledge about the difficult paths to freedom and democracy, knowledge can be developed that can serve to recognise and combat threats to the basic democratic consensus.
Responsible for the exhibition: Dr. Nicola Wenge (DZOK Ulm), Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller, Dr. Bernd Reichelt (both Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg / Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I of Ulm University), Dr. Franz-Josef Ziwes (State Archives Sigmaringen).

The exhibition is open to the public from 28 June to 11 August 2023 on Tuesdays - Fridays from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm in the foyer of the Sigmaringen State Archives, Karlstraße 1 + 3, 72488 Sigmaringen. It is free of charge and freely accessible.

Links:

https://www.schwaebische.de/regional/sigmaringen/sigmaringen/man-wird-ja-wohl-noch-sagen-duerfen-1717055

https://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/de/aktuelles/ausstellungen/75643 bzw.
https://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/de/aktuelles/nachrichten/75655

Plakat zur Wanderausstellung „Man wird ja wohl noch sagen dürfen…“ (PDF)
Ausstellung im Staatsarchiv Sigmaringen (PDF)

23.03.2023
Theatre production based on publication by the publishing house “Psychiatrie und Geschichte” (Zwiefalten, Germany) wins 2nd prize in national competition

The 2023 Berlin production of the play “T4. Ophelia’s Garden” by the Italian author Pietro Floridia has now won an award in a national competition.
Photo: Daniela Buchholz

In the 3rd year of the national theatre competition “andersartig gedenken” (“commemorate in a different way”) on stage, the awarding “Förderkreis Gedenkort T4 e.V.” received entries in the categories “Inclusive Adult Theatre” and "School Theatre" (https://www.andersartig-gedenken.de/startseite.html). The jury reviewed all the competition entries and met in Berlin on 16 and 17 March 2023 to select the winners. Second place in the category “Inclusive Adult Theatre” went to the Berlin production of “T4. Ophelia’s Garden" by “Theater unterm Dach” (TuD), directed by David Stöhr, which premiered on 27 January 2023, the national day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism (see intranet entry at the time).

The award ceremony will take place on 20 June 2023 at 6 pm at the Pfefferberg Theatre in Berlin. The jury would like to thank all the theatre groups and wishes the plays continued success!

mehr lesen (pdf) >>  

01.03.2023
Travelling exhibition of the Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry is in Achern

ACHERN - The temporary exhibition of the Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry, which has been travelling for years, is currently on display in the Psychiatry Museum of the “Forum Illenau-Arkaden” in Achern, Baden (Germany).
Photo: K. Helmholz (Forum Illenau-Arkaden)

The exhibition “’Artist-patients’ from Wuerttemberg and Baden. (Out-)paths and (self-)realisation”, one of the two current touring exhibitions of the Württemberg Psychiatry Museum, shows portraits of people who have enriched art in various fields in their individual ways.

mehr lesen (pdf) >>  

23.02.2023
RAVENSBURG / ULM - With the Oberer Kuhberg Documentation Centre in Ulm, the historical research of the Centre of Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg (ZfP) has a new, additional partner in research and educational work.

The Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the ZfP / Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I at the University of Ulm maintains close working relationships with a whole range of regional and supra-regional institutions, such as the Grafeneck Memorial / Documentation Centre, the psychiatry museums in Göppingen, Achern, Eglfing-Haar, Leipzig and others, or academic and other museological institutions in the state and federal government. Since 2018, our Research Unit at ZfP has been holding supraregional network conferences that bring these institutions together. Within the framework of these events, a now long-standing close cooperation has developed between our Historical Research and the "Documentation Centre Oberer Kuhberg, Ulm e. V. – Upper Kuhberg, Concentration Camp Memorial" (DZOK) in Ulm, which is, for example, the lender of the touring exhibition on current anti-democratic and inhuman language ("Man wird ja wohl noch sagen dürfen..." [„One dare say at least…“]). This exhibition has already been shown at many locations of our clinic network, but also outside and will continue to be shown in the federal state Baden-Wuerttemberg, for example in Sigmaringen in summer 2023. For some time now, trainees from the "School of Health and Nursing" and the volunteer services of the ZfP have been visiting the Ulm concentration camp memorial, which particularly recalls the type of early political concentration camp during the Nazi era or educates about the associated Nazi strategies. The DZOK is also the venue of the 4th Historical Symposium "Historical Knowledge and Social Educational Mission Using the Example of National Socialism in Upper Swabia" in 2024, which brings together museums, memorials, documentation centres, research institutions and other initiatives in the region of southern Württemberg between the Swabian Alb and Lake Constance as well as neighbouring areas and enables an exchange on the regional history of National Socialism.

For the special exhibition "Prelude to Terror - Early Concentration Camps under National Socialism", which will be shown from 28 February to 17 December 2023 on the 1st floor of the Upper Kuhberg Concentration Camp Memorial (DZOK), see more at: www.dzok-ulm.de/ausstellungen/sonderausstellung-auftakt-des-terrors.

02.02.2023
WEISSENAU - Commemoration against forgetting: the stories of Jewish patients
(Photo: ZfP Suedwuerttemberg)

The city of Ravensburg and the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg (ZfP) commemorated the victims of National Socialism with a joint memorial service on Friday, 27 January. The event focused on the history of the Jewish patients of Wuerttemberg among the victims of the so-called “euthanasia” (see announcement of 12.01.2023).

Event information:

BERLIN - The Italian playwright Pietro Floridia has made the murder of the mentally ill and mentally disabled the subject of his drama “T4. Ophelia's Garden”. The play celebrated its premiere on the evening of 27.01.2023 in Berlin’s “Theater unterm Dach”.

Further performance dates can be found at:
https://theateruntermdach-berlin.de/

The video recording of a stage version of “T4. Ophelia’s Garden”, which the Centre of Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg had recorded especially for Remembrance Day 2021 and for use in school lessons, can be found at:
https://www.zfp-web.de/ueber-uns/unsere-verantwortung/erinnern-und-gedenken

WEISSENAU - Until 28 February, the exhibition “Schloss Dellmensingen 1942 - Ein jüdisches Zwangsaltenheim in Württemberg, mit regionalen Bezug zu Zwiefalten und Tigerfeld" (“Dellmensingen Castle 1942 - A Jewish Forced Old People's Home in Württemberg, with Regional References to Zwiefalten and Tigerfeld” ) can be visited at the Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg site in Weissenau. This is an exhibition by the “Museum of the History of Christians and Jews” in Laupheim in cooperation with and with extensions by the Wuerrttemberg Museum of Psychiatry in Zwiefalten. It is freely accessible in the central building (house 42) of the site daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m..
 

01.02.2019
Remembering the victims of National Socialist Psychiatry
 
The Centre for Psychiatry at Ravensburg (FRG) gets engaged in the National Memorial Day for the victims of National Socialism. Since 1983 the clinic actively enhances research on its National Socialist (and further) history. Since 2004, about 3.000 high school pupils have taken part in discussion rounds on the issue of National Socialist crime to psychiatric patients between 1934 and 1945.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>
See also: Mueller, Thomas: Remembering psychiatric patients in Germany murdered by the Nazi regime. The Lancet – Psychiatry. Vol. 5, Issue 10, Oct. 2018, 789-790

31.01.2019
Zwiefalten: Remembering the victims of National Socialist Psychiatry
 
The Centre for Psychiatry at Zwiefalten (FRG) gets engaged in the National Memorial Day for the victims of National Socialism.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

15.01.2019
Holocaust Memorial Day and remembering the victims of National Socialist psychiatry:
 
Guided excursion for a group of handicapped Ravensburg and Friedrichshafen youngsters into the National Socialist history of psychiatry at the Weissenau Clinic of the Centre for Psychiatry Südwürttemberg at Ravensburg (main topics: the history of forced sterilization and so-called “euthanasia).

Korbinian Brodmann Symposium, 16.—17.11.2018

150th anniversary of brain researcher and medical doctor Korbinian Brodmann (1868-1918).
Brodmann Museum and Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry organised a two-day symposium. Read more:
 
>> Brodmann-Museum feiert zehnten Geburtstag: Ein Blick in die Geschichte, den Erfolg – und eine Sorge (Autoren: Jan Riebesehl und Ramona Löffler, Südkurier, 08.03.2019)
>> "Berühmt wie Einstein". Tragödien und Glücksfälle: Gedenken an Korbinian Brodmann (pdf) (Autor: Bernhard Grunewald, Singener Wochenblatt vom 22.11.2018)
>> Arbeitskreis Psychatrie gedenkt seinem Pionier Korbinian Brodmann (pdf) (Autor: Jan Riebesehl, Südkurier vom 19.11.2018)
>> Ausführliche Berichterstattung des Journalisten Jan Riebesehl vom 19.11.2018 (pdf, ungekürzte Fassung)

31.10.2018
Historical research, memorial culture, educating the public
 
An intense two-days-conference at the Centre for Psychiatry at Ravensburg (Germany) bringing together historians, museum staff, academic researchers and grass-root initiatives in the field of memorial culture, took place on October 24-25, 2018.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

09.10.2018
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry opens exhibition on life and work of neuroanatomist Korbinian Brodmann at Frankfurt’s Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
 
The new bi-lingual exhibition of the Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry portraying life and work of German neuroanatomist Korbinian Brodmann has been opened at Frankfurt centre for Brain research.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

11.09.2018
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry opens exhibition on “Outsider Art”. A rare and hitherto unknown photographical exhibition with pictures by Nicole Becker (Germany) on artist and psychiatric patient Gustav Mesmer has been opened up at the Centre for Psychiatry Südwürttemberg at Bad Schussenried (Baden-Wuerttemberg)
 
Gustav Mesmer has grown famous as constructor of flying bicycles, music instruments and as a painter. His taking part in Sevilla’s WORLD EXPO in 1992 for latest made his work known to a wider public interested in Art and so-called Outsider Art.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

31.08.2018
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry opens exhibition on “Outsider Art”. A rare and hitherto unknown photographical exhibition with pictures by Nicole Becker (Germany) on artist and psychiatric patient Gustav Mesmer has been opened up at the Centre for Psychiatry Südwürttemberg at Bad Schussenried (Baden-Wuerttemberg)
 
Gustav Mesmer has grown famous as constructor of flying bicycles, music instruments and as a painter. His taking part in Sevilla’s WORLD EXPO in 1992 for latest made his work known to a wider public interested in Art and so-called Outsider Art.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

21.08.2018
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry organizes annual meeting of “Working-Group for the History of Psychiatry in Baden-Wuerttemberg” at Wiesloch Centre for Psychiatry
 
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>
Conference report to be delivered here, soon.

25.07.2018
Publishing house “Psychiatrie und Geschichte” presents new publication on the religious side in Gustav Mesmer’s life – a former psychiatric patient and “Outsider Artist” well known beyond Baden-Wuerttemberg. This book release event took place in the current exhibition of photographical work on Mesmer by Nicole Becker (Germany)
 
For more information on this publication see:
Verlag Psychiatrie und Geschichte >>

A workshop visit to Gustav Mesmer

New exhibition about unpublished photographs of Wuerttemberg „Patient-Artist“ Gustav Mesmer, participant at Sevilla World Expo 1992. The Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry from June 28 to August 31, 2018 shows hitherto unpublished photographic material about one of the most known “patients” of psychiatry, also an artist in painting, constructing “flying bicycles”, inventing music instruments and many other inventions. The exhibition can be visited at the Centre for Psychiatry’s Central building at Ravensburg.
 
For more information (pdf) >>
Flyer (pdf) >>
Poster (pdf) >>

Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller, 16.06.2018:
The „Monument of the Grey Buses“ reaches another spot in Hessia

Late in May 2018, the monument has reached the city of Hadamar near Limburg. During the National Socialist years, the city provided one of six killing-sites for psychically ill and handicapped people.
 
Read more (pdf) >>

09.10.2017
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry opens exhibition on the history of Baden-Wuerttemberg child guidance and other institutions for the care of adolescents, orphans and under age citizens.
 
A seminar for the history of Baden-Wuerttemberg care institutions for under age, adolescent children and orphans between 1949 and 1975 has been held at the Ravensburg Center for Psychiatry, organized by the Research Unit for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Center itself. At the same time, an exhibition presenting the results of a long-term historical research project on these institutions has been opened to the public at the Center’s main building (“Zentralgebäude”).
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

25.09.2017
Wuerttemberg Museum of Psychiatry opens exhibition on the history of Baden-Wuerttemberg child guidance and other institutions for the care of adolescents, orphans and under age citizens at Ravensburg Center of Psychiatry
 
An exhibition presenting the results of a long-term historical research project on the history of Baden-Wuerttemberg care institutions for under age, adolescent children and orphans between 1949 and 1975 has been opened to the public at the Center’s main building (“Zentralgebäude”).
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

25.08.2017
The ’mobile’ “Monument of the grey Busses” remembering the victims of National Socialist central “Euthanasia” has been moved to Frankfurt am Main. The monument can be visited at the city’s Rathenauplatz, near Frankfurt’s University Campus
 
The monument meanwhile well known and associated with memorial culture in respect to the psychiatric victims of National Socialist terror between 1939 and 1945 has been moved from Winnenden near Stuttgart to the Hessian metropolis of Frankfurt. An accompanying program teaches about National Socialist crimes in the realm of Medicine and Psychiatry.
 
For further information in German see (pdf) >>

Müller, Thomas (Hrsg.): Zentrum und Peripherie in der Geschichte der Psychiatrie. Regionale, nationale und internationale Perspektiven (= Reihe Kulturanamnesen). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, August 2017.
With contributions by
Julia Grauer, Uta Kanis-Seyfried, Livia Prüll, Sebastian Kessler, Heiner Fangerau, Monika Ankele, Stefan Wulf, Waltraud Ernst, Akira Hashimoto, Akihito Suzuki, Celia Di Pauli & Lisa Noggler & Eric Sidoroff, Thomas Müller
 
Verschiedene Perspektiven der Psychiatriegeschichte zusammenzuführen – dieses Ziel haben sich die Autorinnen und Autoren dieses Bandes zur Aufgabe gemacht. In ihren Beiträgen thematisieren sie die regionale Ebene ebenso wie die nationale oder die globale, immer mit dem Blick auf die multipolaren Dynamiken zwischen Zentren und Peripherien. Hierzu gehören unter anderem die Beziehungen zwischen den Wissenszentren der Psychiatrie sowie transnationale Netzwerke der Akteure und deren wissenschaftliche Konzepte mit ihren medizinischen und therapeutischen Funktionen.
 
Continue reading (pdf) >>
 

Di/ 5.9./ 19:30 Uhr, Haus des Buches Leipzig / Zentrum-Südost
»T4. Ophelias Garten«
Kirsten Maria Düsberg in Lesung und Gespräch mit Ellen Bräunig und Markus Sahr
 
Deutschland, Kriegswinter 1941: Ophelia kultiviert eigensinnig ihre Blumen, als sie Besuch von einer Krankenschwester erhält, mit der sie Freundschaft schließt. Doch Gertrud ist eine Beauftragte der »Aktion T4«. —
 
Continue reading (pdf) >>
 

Neue Wechselausstellung am Standort Ravensburg-Weissenau
Verwahrlost und gefährdet?
Heimerziehung in Baden-Württemberg 1949-1975
 
Die Ausstellung des Landesarchivs Baden-Württemberg bietet Einblicke sowohl in den Alltag vieler Kinderheime des bundesdeutschen Raums zwischen 1949 und 1975 als auch in die Gefühlswelten ihrer Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner, den ehemaligen, sogenannten Heimkindern. Zentrale Aspekte der Ausstellung sind das System der Heimerziehung sowie die Rolle der Jugendämter beim Prozess der Heimeinweisung oder die Lebenswelten der Institutionen der Unterbringung selbst. Inhaltlich ergänzt wird die Ausstellung durch die Darstellung des aktuellen Aufarbeitungsprozesses der Geschichte der Heimerziehung. Die Ausstellung wird präsentiert vom Württembergischen Psychiatriemuseum am ZfP Südwürttemberg. Kooperationspartner ist das Institut für Soziale Berufe Ravensburg (IFSB).

Ausstellungsdauer: 10. August bis 18. Oktober 2017
Die Ausstellung ist täglich von 10 bis 18 geöffnet
Ausstellungsort: Weingartshofer Str. 2 I 88214 Ravensburg-Weissenau | Geb. 42 – Zentralgebäude.

Veranstaltungen:
Mittwoch, 20. September um 11.00 Uhr:
Vernissage mit einem Grußwort von Dr. Clemens Rehm und einem Vortrag von Nastasja Pilz (beide Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg)
Großer Festsaal, Gebäude 1, 2. Obergeschoss.

Donnerstag, 5. Oktober um 11.00 Uhr:
Seminar und Führung mit Nora Wohlfarth (Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg)
Hörsaal, Gebäude 1, Erdgeschoss.

Ausführliche Informationen >>
 
Foto: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart, U 180.

Forschungsbereich in Ravensburg co-organisiert Tagung in Oxford (UK) zur Thematik Alkohol, Psychiatrie und Gesellschaft in historischer Perspektive:
 
Der Forschungsbereich Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin am ZfP Südwürttemberg / Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie I der Universität Ulm organisierte zusammen mit der School of History, Philosophy and Culture der englischen Oxford Brookes University eine Tagung zum Thema „Alkohol, Psychiatrie und Gesellschaft“ am St. Anne’s College in Oxford. Das Tagungsprogramm umfasste 13 Vorträge von Beitragenden zur Thematik in Asien, Afrika, Südamerika, Nordamerika und Europa. Europäische Beiträge bezogen sich auch auf Studien zu Ost- und Westeuropa vor dem Mauerfall. In Fortführung der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Waltraud Ernst (Oxford) und Thomas Müller (Ravensburg), aus der bereits Konferenzen in Southampton 2005 zum Thema transnationale Beziehungen in der Psychiatrie (publiziert in: Ernst, Waltraud and Mueller, Thomas (Eds.): Transnational Psychiatries. Social and cultural histories of psychiatry in comparative perspective, c. 1800-2000. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle on Tyne, 2010, 2. Auflage 2015) und Oxford 2013 zum Thema “Arbeit, Psychiatrie und Gesellschaft” (publiziert in: Ernst, Waltraud (Ed.): Work, Therapy, Psychiatry and society, c. 1750-2010. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2015) erschienen, werden auch die Beiträge dieser Tagung zur Veröffentlichung vorbereitet.

Ein vorläufiger Tagungs-Kurzbericht findet sich hier. Ein ausführlicherer Tagungsbericht ist in Vorbereitung und folgt an dieser Stelle in Bälde.

“Alcohol, Psychiatry and Society” — International Research Symposium, 29-30 June 2017
Convened by Professor Waltraud Ernst, Oxford Brookes University, and Professor Thomas Mueller, Centre for Psychiatry Suedwuerttemberg at Ravensburg / University of Ulm.

Academics of eleven different nationalities gathered for a symposium to address the historical links between alcohol, psychiatry and society. We learned that definitions of excessive drinking, drunkenness, alcoholism, and addiction varied across national contexts and that what was an acceptable – or even desirable – level of drinking in one culture, was considered problematic in another. Alcohol could be a sign of civilisation or individual status; it could be perceived as a medical treatment as well as a poison; and as a source of tax revenue or mental degeneration.

Continue reading >>
 
Programme Flyer (pdf) >>
Poster (pdf, 10 MB) >>
 
Further Information see at:
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/hss/events/alcohol,-psychiatry-and-society/
http://royalhistsoc.org/calendar/alcohol-psychiatry-society/
http://brookes-culturalthinking.blogspot.de/2017/07/alcohol-psychiatry-and-society.html

Vergangen? Spurensuche und Erinnerungsarbeit — Das Denkmal der Grauen Busse
Hrsg. von Thomas Müller, Paul-Otto Schmidt-Michel und Franz Schwarzbauer
 
Im Juni 2017 erschien im Verlag Psychiatrie und Geschichte das Buch „Vergangen? Spurensuche und Erinnerungsarbeit - Das Denkmal der Grauen Busse“, mit Beiträgen von Aleida Assmann, Michael von Cranach und vielen anderen. Herausgegeben wurde der Sammelband von Thomas Müller, Paul-Otto Schmidt-Michel und Franz Schwarzbauer. Die Publikation zum Denkmal der Grauen Busse in Ravensburg vereint Beiträge zur Geschichte und Erinnerungskultur der nationalsozialistischen „Euthanasie“ und dokumentiert die Stationen der Reise des mobilen Denkmals zwischen Ravensburg und Berlin.

Das Denkmal der Grauen Busse ist ein »zweigeteiltes Erinnerungszeichen« (Horst Hoheisel / Andreas Knitz); es besteht aus zwei identischen Nachbildungen jener Transportbusse der sogenannten »Gemeinnützigen Krankentransport GmbH« (GeKraT), mit denen die Patienten seinerzeit in die Tötungsanstalten gebracht wurden. Je 75 Tonnen schwer, massiv und in der Mitte durchgeschnitten, mit der Inschrift »Wohin bringt ihr uns?«. Skulpturen aus Beton. Mit diesem Denkmal soll der Opfer gedacht werden; aber auch Tat und Täter werden durch die Form des Busses reflektiert. Während der eine Bus die Alte Pforte der ehemaligen Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Weißenau blockiert, ist der zweite Bus inzwischen mehr als sechstausend Kilometer bewegt worden; er hat gleichzeitig Bewegung in eine erstarrte, tabuisierte Überlieferung gebracht, denn wie kaum ein anderes Thema ist die zig-fache Ermordung psychisch kranker und geistig behinderter Menschen in der Psychiatrie der NS-Zeit nur ganz verschämt angesprochen und zumeist verschwiegen worden.
Die Beiträge dieser Publikation gruppieren sich um drei unterschiedliche Schwerpunkte. Zum einen geht es darin um die historische und medizinhistorische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema »Euthanasie«, und zu dieser Geschichte gehört auch die verdrängte Nach-Geschichte, deren Schatten bis in die Gegenwart reichen. Im Zentrum anderer Beiträge steht die Frage, ob und wenn ja: welche künstlerischen Antworten gefunden werden können, um der Opfer von Gewalt und Terror zu gedenken. Einen dritten Teil stellt die Dokumentation dar, die jene Orte aufführt, an denen der mobile Bus mittlerweile temporär gewesen ist. Mit Beiträgen von Aleida Assmann, Cesare Giacobazzi, Michael von Cranach, Stefanie Endlich, Susanne Knittel, Thomas Müller, Paul-Otto Schmidt-Michel, Franz Schwarzbauer, James E. Young sowie Horst Hoheisel und Andreas Knitz.
 
Buchankündigung (pdf) >>
Pressemitteilung (pdf) >>
Verlagshomepage >>

Psychiatrie in Oberschwaben
Die „Weissenau“ bei Ravensburg zwischen Versorgungsfunktion und universitärer Forschung
Hrsg. von Thomas Müller, Uta Kanis-Seyfried, Bernd Reichelt und Renate Schepker
 
Am 1. April 2017 erschien im Verlag Psychiatrie und Geschichte der 2. Band der wissenschaftlichen Reihe „Psychiatrie, Kultur und Gesellschaft in historischer Perspektive“. „Psychiatrie in Oberschwaben“ wurde anlässlich des 125-jährigen Jubiläums der ehemaligen Heilanstalt Weissenau herausgegeben und bietet in 16 Beiträgen und auf 400 Seiten einen Überblick über die aktuelle Forschung zur Geschichte der Psychiatrie in Oberschwaben und darüber hinaus.

Der vorliegende Band zur Geschichte der Psychiatrie im Südwesten Deutschlands ist einem breiten Themenspektrum der Geschichte der Psychiatrie und angrenzender Gebiete in der Region Oberschwaben gewidmet. Im Zentrum der Untersuchungen steht die Geschichte der 1892 in Weissenau bei Ravensburg gegründeten ehemaligen Heil- und Pflegeanstalt, heute Standort des Zentrums für Psychiatrie Südwürttemberg, sowie die Geschichte weiterer psychiatrischer Klinikstandorte dieser Region.
Historisch untersucht werden Fragen der Fürsorge und der Unterbringung psychisch kranker Menschen, der Entwicklung verschiedener Berufsfelder, oder die Geschichte einzelner Subdisziplinen der Psychiatrie. Weitere Kapitel behandeln den internationalen Wissenstransfer, den Funktionswandel psychiatrischer Einrichtungen sowie deren Zweckentfremdung in den beiden Weltkriegen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Studien zur Psychiatrie im Nationalsozialismus oder zum Geschlechterverhältnis im Rahmen der im Krankenhaus tätigen Berufsgruppen gehören ebenfalls zum Spektrum dieses Bands. Die vorliegende Publikation schließt ab mit einer Darstellung des konkreten Umgangs mit der eigenen Geschichte: der Erinnerungskultur am Standort Weissenau des Zentrums für Psychiatrie Südwürttemberg – seit Gründung der medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Ulm zugleich akademisches Krankenhaus dieser Universität.
 
Inhaltsverzeichnis (pdf) >>
Hauptbeschreibung (pdf) >>
Bestellformular (pdf) >>
Die Möglichkeit zur direkten Bestellung finden Sie auf der Verlagshomepage >>.

erfasst, verfolgt, vernichtet. Kranke und behinderte Menschen im Nationalsozialismus
 
Eine Ausstellung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik und Nervenheilkunde (DGPPN) in Kooperation mit der Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas. Sie wird gezeigt vom ZfP Südwürttemberg und Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg.

Im Kloster Schussenried 08.04. – 05.06.2017
 
Einladung zur Vernissage am Freitag, 7. April, 15 Uhr (pdf) >>
Flyer (pdf 2 MB) >>
Plakat (pdf 4 MB) >>

Filmbericht
Das Denkmal der grauen Busse (6:46 min)  (ZfP Südwürttemberg, 16.09.2015/ Regie: Hans-Peter Lübke)

Wir laden Sie sehr herzlich ein zum Vortrag von
 
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lutz, Universität Trier,
 
am Mittwoch, den 27. April 2016, um 16.00 Uhr, im Hörsaal der Klinik in Weissenau
 
Titel:
Wie, wann und warum ändern sich Patienten in der Psychotherapie? Ansätze und Konzepte moderner patientenorientierter Psychotherapieforschung
 
 
Wir freuen uns, Sie begrüßen zu dürfen,
mit besten Grüßen,
Thomas Müller

Wir laden Sie sehr herzlich ein zum Vortrag von
 
Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Hofer, Universität Münster,
 
am Mittwoch, den 11. November 2015, um 16.00 Uhr, im Hörsaal der Klinik in Weissenau
 
Titel:
Schock, Strom, Suggestion: Der Erste Weltkrieg und die Wiener Psychiatrie
 
Ob an der Front oder im Lazarett der Großstadt: Die „Kriegszitterer“ zählten zu den verstörendsten Erscheinungen des Ersten Weltkriegs. Für Medizin und Psychiatrie war das massenhafte und rätselhafte Auftreten psychischer Erkrankungsformen eine besondere Herausforderung; die ethnische Heterogenität in der kollabierenden Habsburgermonarchie verkomplizierte die Situation zusätzlich. Der Vortrag zeigt zum einen, wie stark psychiatrisches Handeln von den militärischen Erfordernissen und Prinzipien der industriellen Moderne geprägt war. Zum anderen analysiert er Entwicklungen und Charakteristika, die für die Wiener Psychiatrie des Ersten Weltkriegs als spezifisch anzusehen sind.
 
Wir freuen uns, Sie begrüßen zu dürfen,
mit besten Grüßen,
Thomas Müller

21.10.2015
 
Am Mittwoch, 14. Oktober 2015 fand im Casino des ZfP Südwürttemberg in Zwiefalten in Anwesenheit der sechs Künstler und etwa 100 Besuchern die Vernissage zur Kunstausstellung „etwas bleibt“ statt.
 
„Kunst kennt keine Behinderung“. Inklusive Ausstellung „Etwas bleibt“ begeistert im ZfP (pdf) (Schwäbische Zeitung, 20.10.2015)

02. — 04.10.2015
Wechselausstellung „Zu Leben und Werk von Korbinian Brodmann (1868-1918)“ in Würzburg

Mit der Erforschung und Darstellung der vergleichenden Lokalisationslehre der Großhirnrinde zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts hat der Neuroanatom Korbinian Brodmann (1868—1918) der Medizin bahnbrechende wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse hinterlassen. Im Rahmen der 25. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Nervenheilkunde (DGGN) in Würzburg (2.—4. Oktober 2015) konnten sich die Teilnehmer anhand einer Wanderausstellung über Brodmanns Leben, sein Werk und die darauf basierenden, aktuellen Entwicklungen in der modernen Hirnforschung informieren. Korbinian Brodmann hatte in Würzburg, München, Berlin und Freiburg Medizin studiert und 1891 in Würzburg auch seine ärztliche Vorprüfung abgelegt. Die Ausstellung wurde von Dr. Uta Kanis-Seyfried, Akademische Mitarbeiterin des Forschungsbereiches Geschichte und Ethik in der Medizin im ZfP Südwürttemberg zusammen mit dem Museum in Hohenfels-Liggerdorf erstellt und von ihr zuletzt substanziell erweitert.

08.09.2015
 
In Zwiefalten wird am 14. Oktober um 19 Uhr mit einer Vernissage im Casino die Kunstausstellung „etwas bleibt“ der Inklusionskonferenz des Landkreises Reutlingen eröffnet. Die Ausstellung wurde von der Geschäftsstelle der Inklusionskonferenz im Rahmen der landesweiten Öffentlichkeitskampagne „duichwir“ entwickelt und initiiert und ist bis zum 31. Januar 2016 in den Fluren des Verwaltungsbaus des ZfP Südwürttemberg in Zwiefalten zu sehen. Sechs Künstler und Künstlerinnen aus dem Landkreis Reutlingen bieten mit Malerei, Radierung und Fotografie sowie unterschiedlichen Genres und Techniken eine beeindruckende Bandbreite künstlerischer Vielfalt.
 
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20. August 2015
„Außergewöhnliches leisten“. Württembergisches Psychiatriemuseum erhält „EXTRA-Preis“ der LOTTO Baden-Württemberg
 
Aus einem Kreis von 117 Mitbewerbern wurde das Württembergische Psychiatriemuseum ausgewählt und erhielt mit heutigem Datum den erstmals vergebenen „EXTRA-Preis“. Anlass für diesen, auch zukünftig neben dem ebenfalls in Erstauflage vergebenen „Lotto-Museumspreis Baden-Württemberg“ war „die hohe Beteiligung am Wettbewerb“, wie die Staatliche Toto-Lotto GmbH Baden-Württemberg mitteilte. Die siebenköpfige Jury namhafter Kultur- und Museumsexpertinnen und -experten würdigte explizit das „außergewöhnliche Konzept für ein eher sperriges Thema“ und hob „die aufklärende Funktion des Museums“ hervor. Der „EXTRA-Preis“ soll insbesondere das Engagement derjenigen Museen würdigen, die „in ausgewählten Bereichen Außergewöhnliches leisten“. Das Württembergische Psychiatriemuseum wurde 2003 am Standort Zwiefalten des ZfP Südwürttemberg eröffnet, dem Gründungsort der ersten „Königlich-Württembergischen Staatsirrenanstalt, gegründet 1812. Diese Ausstellung wurde 2009-2011 umfassend erneuert, das Gebäude 2011 saniert. Für die Überarbeitung der Ausstellung zeichneten Dr. Uta Kanis-Seyfried und Priv.-Doz. Dr. Thomas Müller verantwortlich. Im Jahr 2010 trat eine inzwischen besonders erfolgreiche Initiative hinzu: Das Team des Württembergischen Psychiatriemuseums unter Leitung von Müller und Kanis-Seyfried gestaltete einen zentralen musealen Raum im Neuen Kloster Schussenried. In Bad Schussenried wurde, nach Winnenden (Winnenthal) im Jahr 1875 die dritte württembergische Ort eröffnet, an dem psychisch Kranke behandelt werden konnten. Eine weitere Filialausstellung ist in Ravensburg-Weissenau geplant. Ortschaftsrat Eschach, die Stadt Ravensburg und das Heimatmuseum Eschach sind an die Museumsmacher, inzwischen ergänzt um Dr. Bernd Reichelt, herangetreten. Das Preisgeld, insbesondere jedoch die Würdigung seitens der Jury, geben den Museumsmachern Recht. Im den Preisträgern persönlich übermittelten Ergebnis des Wettbewerbs nahmen verschiedene Aspekte der Arbeit des Württembergischen Museums besonderen Raum ein: Gewürdigt wurden hier die Beschäftigung mit belastenden Inhalten wie der nationalsozialistischen Geschichte, die durch das Museum „mehr Öffentlichkeit“ erfahren, sowie die bemerkenswerte Integration von Themen, wie der „Psychiatrischen Familienpflege“, die auch auf die Bedeutung von Familie und Gesellschaft im Versorgungsauftrag psychiatrischer Kliniken hinweisen, jenseits der historischen Anstaltsmauern und in historischer Perspektive. Ebenso betonte die Jury die an mehreren Orten der historischen wie gegenwärtigen Krankenversorgung selbst etablierten Ausstellungsinitiativen des prämierten Museums in Oberschwaben, das auch Wander- und Wechselausstellungen unterhält. Nicht zuletzt fand die kreative Umnutzung eines ehemaligen Pathologiegebäudes einer psychiatrischen Klinik zu einem musealen Ort großen Anklang: der Kern dieses Zwiefalter Museums findet sich inzwischen um eine regelmäßig bespielte Ausstellungsfläche für Wechselausstellungen erweitert.

Ein inklusives Kunstprojekt im Rahmen der Ravensburger Kunstausstellung „Ich bin eine Pflanze. Naturprozesse in der Kunst“
 
Motiviert durch das große Interesse am Malwettbewerb des Jahres 2014, und inspiriert von der aktuellen Ausstellung „Ich bin eine Pflanze – Naturprozesse in der Kunst“ im Kunstmuseum Ravensburg, führte das Inklusive Atelier in Kooperation mit dem Kunstmuseum einen weiteren Malwettbewerb durch.
 
mehr >>
 
Am Mittwoch, den 2. Dezember 2015, um 15.00 Uhr wird die Ausstellung mit einer Vernissage in den Räumlichkeiten der akademie südwest des ZfP Südwürttemberg am Standort Bad Schussenried, im 1. OG des Neuen Klosters eröffnet. Hiernach ist die Ausstellung zu üblichen Öffnungszeiten, Mo-Fr., zwischen 9.00 und 17.00 Uhr und bis zum 29. Februar 2016 zu sehen. Die Ausstellung wird unterstützt vom Württembergischen Psychiatriemuseum.
 
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Die Ausstellung „Mit dem Fahrrad fliegen“ widmet sich dem Leben des ehemaligen Klosterschülers und Flugradbauers Gustav Mesmer (1903-1994). Aufgrund eigenartiger Vorfälle 1929 erstmals in die Staatliche Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Schussenried aufgenommen, verbrachte Mesmer insgesamt circa 35 Jahre seines langen Lebens in Behandlung psychiatrischer Kliniken in Schussenried und Ravensburg-Weissenau. Annähernd seine gesamte Lebenspanne produzierte er Zeichnungen, Gemälde, baute und erfand Instrumente. Vor allem mit seinen Flugradmodellen wurde er noch zu Lebzeiten berühmt: Kunstwerke des oberschwäbischen „Ikarus vom Lautertal“ fanden Aufnahme in das Programm der Weltausstellung in Sevilla 1992. Die Ausstellung im Zeppelin-Museum Friedrichshafen ist vom 27. März bis zum 28. Juni 2015 zu sehen, und hält erstmals das gesamte, überlieferte Werk Mesmers aus verschiedenen Lebensphasen vor. Die Ausstellung wurde unterstützt mit Exponaten des Württembergischen Psychiatriemuseums, greift auf Aktenmaterial des ZfP Südwürttemberg zurück und wurde vom Forschungsbereich Geschichte der Medizin am ZfP inhaltlich beraten.
Leitung des Projekts: Sabine Mücke, M.A., Zeppelin-Museum Friedrichshafen.
Betreuung seitens des Württembergischen Psychiatriemuseums / Forschungsbereichs Geschichte der Medizin: PD Dr. Thomas Müller, Dr. Uta Kanis-Seyfried.
Ausstellungsdauer: 28. März bis 28. Juni 2015. Vernissage: 27. März 2015.
 
zur Bildergalerie >>
ausführliche Bildergalerie zur Ausstellung >>

Kunstausstellung — Vernissage in Bad Schussenried „Interpretationen des spanischen Mädchens“
Das Team des Württembergischen Psychiatriemuseums freut sich sehr, im Rahmen unserer fünften Wechselausstellung in 2014 eine besonders beachtenswerte und interessante Initiative anzukündigen. In den Räumlichkeiten der akademie südwest, Neues Kloster Bad Schussenried, eröffnen wir im Rahmen einer kleinen Vernissage am
Mittwoch, 10. Dezember 2014, 15.00 Uhr,
eine Kunstausstellung. Gezeigt werden Bilder eines gemeinsam vom Heimbereich / Geschäftsbereich Wohnen des ZfP Südwürttemberg in Ravensburg (Dr. Michael Konrad) zusammen mit dem Kunstmuseum Ravensburg (Dr. Nicole Fritz) initiierten Wettbewerbs, an dem gleichermaßen Psychiatrieerfahrene wie Schülerinnen und Schüler aus Ravensburg teilgenommen haben. Die Ergebnisse dieses im Sinne der sozialpsychiatrischen Debatte inklusiven Malwettbewerbs werden nun in den Räumen unserer Akademie, im 1. OG des Neuen Klosters Schussenried, anonymisiert gezeigt.
mehr zur Ausstellung >>

Kurzbezeichnung: MUSE 15
„Von Kriegszitterern, Sanitätsoffizieren und Helferinnen. Trauma und Psychiatrie im Ersten Weltkrieg“
2014 jährt sich zum einhundertsten Mal der Beginn des Ersten Weltkriegs, der als erster industrialisierter Massenkrieg in die Geschichte einging. Unter den Bedingungen dieses Schützengrabenkriegs erkrankten allein im deutschen Heer mehrere hunderttausend Soldaten an sogenannten Krankheiten des Nervengebietes. Auch unter den „Daheimgebliebenen“ brachte der „Große Krieg“ eine Vielzahl seelischer Verletzungen hervor. Psychiatrische Krankenhäuser an Front und „Heimatfront“ sahen sich vor unerwartete Probleme bezüglich Unterbringung und Behandlung der Patienten gestellt. In eigens eingerichteten Reservelazaretten wurden psychisch erkrankte Militärangehörige versorgt und neue, zum Teil sehr radikale, im öffentlichen militärpsychiatrischen Diskurs entwickelte Behandlungsmethoden erprobt.
Die von Dr. Maria Hermes (Bremen) im Rahmen ihrer Dissertation konzipierte und im Verwaltungsgebäude des ZfP Südwürttemberg, Standort Zwiefalten, präsentierte Ausstellung befasst sich mit der Psychiatrie im Deutschen Reich am Beispiel des St. Jürgen-Asyls in Bremen. Auf der Basis von Krankengeschichten soldatischer, aber auch ziviler männlicher und weiblicher Patienten werden verschiedene Themenbereiche dargestellt: Ärzte – Pflegepersonal – Ursachen von Kriegstraumata und ihre Beurteilung – Behandlungsmethoden – Krankheiten im Krieg – Hungersterben. Veranschaulicht werden die Sachverhalte dieser Ausstellung durch Fotografien, Dokumente und dingliche Exponate. An zwei Hörstationen können von Schauspielern gesprochene Zitate von Ärzten und Patienten zur Psychiatrie im Ersten Weltkrieg gehört und so die Wahrnehmungsweisen der betroffenen Personen authentisch erfahren werden.
Erweitert wurde die Ausstellung durch eigene Forschungen zur regionalen Geschichte während des Ersten Weltkriegs am Forschungsbereich Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin im ZfP Südwürttemberg, erarbeitet durch Dr. Uta Kanis-Seyfried. Am Beispiel der württembergischen Heilanstalten Zwiefalten, Schussenried, Weissenau und der im Badischen gelegenen Reichenau bei Konstanz werden unterschiedliche Sichtweisen und Folgen des Kriegsgeschehens aufgezeigt. Exemplarische Beispiele von „Patientengeschichten“ aus dem Militär-Reservelazarett, das in der Heilanstalt Weissenau eingerichtet worden war, können in einer Broschüre nachgelesen werden. Die Ausstellung (ZfP Südwürttemberg, Zwiefalten, Hauptstraße 9, Verwaltungsgebäude) ist bis 31. März 2015 täglich, Montag bis Sonntag, von 10 bis 18 Uhr geöffnet. Der Eintritt ist frei. Führungen sind nach Voranmeldung über das Württembergische Psychiatriemuseum Zwiefalten jederzeit möglich. Tel: 07373 10-3113.
Bearbeitung und Kuratierung: Dr. Maria Hermes. Kuratierung Zwiefalten: Dr. Uta Kanis-Seyfried.
Ausstellungszeitraum: 1. Oktober 2014 bis 31. März 2015

Zentrum und Peripherie in der Geschichte der Psychiatrie
Zwiefalten, 13.—15. Juni 2012,
Württembergische Psychiatriegeschichte im regionalen, nationalen und internationalen Vergleich

CFP Abstract

Bildergalerie zur Tagung

• Tagungsberichte
   

Ernst, Waltraud and Müller, Thomas (Eds.): Transnational Psychiatries. Social and cultural histories of psychiatry in comparative perspective, c. 1800—2000. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle on Tyne (2010).
 
This book offers something new in the history of psychiatry. Within a transnational research framework, it presents original historical case studies and conceptual reflections on comparative and related methodologies. Systematic comparison and transfer studies as well as aspects of entangled history are employed in relation to themes such as different cultural meanings pertaining to the same term; transfer of treatment practices and institutional regimes; localised practices and (re)-emerging forms of patient care; circulation of early anti-psychiatrists’ views; impact of war and politics on patients’ welfare and on psychiatric discourse; and diversification of psychotherapeutic and physical practices. The book includes chapters on the history and historiography of psychiatry and psychotherapy in different geo-cultural regions in South America, Asia, the Pacific and Europe. The contributors present multilayered interpretations, emphasising commonalities and interconnections as well as contrasts and discontinuities. With its wide-ranging geographical focus and attention to conceptual issues, this collection will assist to integrate and reconfigure the historiography of psychiatry.
 
mehr zur Buchankündigung beim Verlag >>
 
Reviews:
 
Review by Yumi Kim, Department of History at Columbia University:
Transnational Psychiatries: Social and Cultural Histories of Psychiatry in Comparative Perspective c. 1800-2000. Editors: Waltraud Ernst and Thomas Mueller (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010)
 
Review by Philippa Martyr, University of Western Australia:
Transnational Psychiatries: Social and Cultural Histories of Psychiatry in Comparative Perspective, c.1800–2000. Editors: Waltraud Ernst and Thomas Mueller (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010). ISBN (10)1-4438-2217-5 (HC). xxiii + 321 pp.
 
Rezension von Urs Germann in N.T.M. 19 (2011), Springer Basel AG:
Waltraud Ernst und Thomas Müller (Hg.) 2010: Transnational Psychiatries. Social and Cultural Histories of Psychiatry in Comparative Perspective, c. 1800–2000. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, geb., 310 S., 55,99 €, ISBN-13: 978-1-4438-2217-6.
 
Katherine Angel: Rezension zu: Ernst, Waltraud; Mueller, Thomas (Hrsg.): Transnational Psychiatries. Social and Cultural Histories of Psychiatry in Comparative Perspective c. 1800-2000. Newcastle upon Tyne 2011, in: H-Soz-u-Kult, 26.04.2012, <http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/rezensionen/2012-2-073>.
 
Cornelia Brink, Freiburg i. Br.: Rezension zu: WALTRAUD ERNST/THOMAS MUELLER (Hg.): Transnational Psychiatries. Social and Cultural Histories of Psychiatry in Comparative Perspective, ca. 1800-2000. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 2010, 321 S., 44.99 £, in: Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 99, Band • 2012 • Heft l, Seite 103-105, ©Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart.
 
Review by Catharine Coleborne, University of Waikato, New Zealand: Waltraud Ernst and Thomas Mueller (eds), Transnational Psychiatries: Social and Cultural Histories of Psychiatry in Comparative Perspective c. 1800–2000.
History of Psychiatry, June 2012; vol. 23, 2: pp. 245-247.

Kinzig, Jörg; Stöckle, Thomas (Hrsg.): 60 Jahre Tübinger Grafeneck-Prozess. Betrachtungen aus historischer, juristischer, medizinethischer und publizistischer Perspektive. Verlag Psychiatrie und Geschichte, Zwiefalten, Publikation 2011.
 
Faltblatt zum Inhalt (pdf)

20. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Nervenheilkunde e.V. (pdf)
1.—3. Oktober 2010,
Ravensburg-Weissenau und Bad Schussenried
 
Ausführliche Bildergalerie zur Tagung
 
Auswahl Bildergalerie zur Tagung auf zfp-web.de

Müller, Thomas; Rüdenburg, Bodo und Rexer, Martin (Hrsg.): Wissenstransfer in der Psychiatrie. Albert Zeller und die Psychiatrie Württembergs im 19. Jahrhundert. Verlag Psychiatrie und Geschichte, Zwiefalten, Publikation 2009.

Seltener Mut gegen den Tyrannen.
Theodor Roller nannte Hitler einen Lügner — Bis Kriegsende in „Heilanstalt“ weggesperrt. (pdf) Südwest Presse Ulm, 27.01.2009.

Hans-Joachim Lang: "Als Christ nenne ich Sie einene Lügner" Thodor Rollers Aufbegehren geben Hitler. Hoffman und Campe, Hamburg, Publikation 2009.

Kreuz oder Hakenkreuz? Mit dieser existenziellen Frage sieht sich der 22-jährige Theodor Roller konfrontiert. Sie treibt ihn zu einer lebensgefährlichen Aktion: Er richtet mehrere Briefe an Adolf Hitler, die im Ton immer schärfer werden, bis Roller seinen Adressaten offen angreift und ihn einen Lügner nennt, "den größten Volksschädling, der je deutschen Boden betrat". Wer so etwas tut, muss verrückt sein, jedenfalls nach der Logik des NS-Systems. Und so weist das Stuttgarter Sondergericht Roller in eine psychiatrische Anstalt ein, in der er fünfeinhalb Jahre seines Lebens verbringt ...
Aus Aktenmaterial, Gesprächen mit Thoedor Roller, der im Herbst 2008 mit 93 Jahren verstarb, und dessen Briefen an die Mutter rekonstruiert der Autor die Geschichte eines Mannes, der den Tod in Kauf nahm, um seinem Glauben treu bleiben zu können.

Hans-Joachim Lang, 1951 in Speyer geboren, studierte in Tübingen Germanistik, Kultur- und Politikwissenschaft. 1980 Promotion (Germanistik). Seit 1982 Redakteur beim Schwäbischen Tagblatt. 1989 Wächterpreis der deutschen Tagespresse. Lehraufträge an der Universität Tübingen. Für sein bei Hoffmann und Campe erschienenes Buch "Die Namen der Nummern" erhielt er 2004 den Preis der Fondation Auschwitz in Brüssel und 2008 die Leonard-Fuchs-Medaille der Medizinischen Fakultät der Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.