Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute
Encyclopedia
The Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute (later the Göring Institute) was founded in 1920 to further the science of psychoanalysis
in Berlin
. Its founding members included Karl Abraham
and Max Eitingon. The scientists at the institute furthered Sigmund Freud
's work but also challenged many of his ideas.
, Franz Alexander
, Sándor Radó, Karen Horney
, Siegfried Bernfeld
, Otto Fenichel
, Theodor Reik
, Wilhelm Reich
and Melanie Klein
were among the many psychoanalysts who worked at the Institute.
The policlinic made psychoanalysis available for poor people. Many of the leading psychoanalysts working at the Berlin Institute were exiled or killed.
In 1933 Freud's books were burned in Berlin. During the time of the Third Reich non-Jewish German psychoanalysts tried to "save" psychoanalysis by collaborating with other psychotherapeutic currents and with the nazis.
In 1936 the "Deutsches Institut für psychologische Forschung und Psychotherapie e.v." was formed (the socalled Göring Institute). Its director Matthias Göring
was a cousin of Hermann Göring
. At the institute some psychoanalytic training was possible. Not all psychoanalysts were opportunists. John Rittmeister, head of the policlinic, who had become a member of the resistance group "Rote Kapelle" (Red Orchestra) was sentenced to death and executed in May 1943.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Its founding members included Karl Abraham
Karl Abraham
-Further reading:* Freud, S. . Mourning and Melancholia. Standard Edition, 14, 305-307.* May-Tolzmann, U. . The Discovery of the Bad Mother: Abraham’s contribution to the theory of Depression...
and Max Eitingon. The scientists at the institute furthered Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
's work but also challenged many of his ideas.
History
During the 1920s, Berlin became a center of psychoanalysis. The Berlin Institute was the first psychoanalytic training center in the world. It introduced the three-column model (theoretical courses, personal analysis, first patients under supervision) which was later adopted by most other training centers. Ernst Simmel, Hanns SachsHanns Sachs
Hanns Sachs was a psychoanalyst. In 1939, he founded American Imago with Sigmund Freud.- References :*...
, Franz Alexander
Franz Alexander
Franz Gabriel Alexander was a Hungarian-American psychoanalyst and physician, who is considered one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine and psychoanalytic criminology.- Life :...
, Sándor Radó, Karen Horney
Karen Horney
Karen Horney born Danielsen was a German-American psychoanalyst. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views, particularly his theory of sexuality, as well as the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis and its genetic psychology...
, Siegfried Bernfeld
Siegfried Bernfeld
Siegfried Bernfeld was an Austrian psychologist and educator who was a native of Lemberg, which is now Lviv, Ukraine...
, Otto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel was a psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation".Otto Fenichel started studying medicine in 1915 in Vienna. Already as a very young man, when still in school, he was attracted by the circle of psychoanalysts around Freud...
, Theodor Reik
Theodor Reik
Theodor Reik was a prominent psychoanalyst who trained as one of Freud's first students in Vienna, Austria. Reik received a Ph.D. degree in psychology from the University of Vienna in 1912. His dissertation, a study of Flaubert's Temptation of Saint Anthony, was the first psychoanalytic...
, Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
and Melanie Klein
Melanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
were among the many psychoanalysts who worked at the Institute.
The policlinic made psychoanalysis available for poor people. Many of the leading psychoanalysts working at the Berlin Institute were exiled or killed.
In 1933 Freud's books were burned in Berlin. During the time of the Third Reich non-Jewish German psychoanalysts tried to "save" psychoanalysis by collaborating with other psychotherapeutic currents and with the nazis.
In 1936 the "Deutsches Institut für psychologische Forschung und Psychotherapie e.v." was formed (the socalled Göring Institute). Its director Matthias Göring
Matthias Göring
Matthias Heinrich Göring was a German psychiatrist, born in Düsseldorf. He died in prison in Poznan because he was an active Nazi.He start his studies with a doctorate in law, and a doctorate in medicine at Bonn in 1907...
was a cousin of Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
. At the institute some psychoanalytic training was possible. Not all psychoanalysts were opportunists. John Rittmeister, head of the policlinic, who had become a member of the resistance group "Rote Kapelle" (Red Orchestra) was sentenced to death and executed in May 1943.
English
- Geoffrey Cocks, Psychotherapy in the Third Reich—The Göring Institute, New York: Oxford University Press, 1985 (based on his dissertation: Psyche and Swastika: neue deutsche Seelenheilkunde 1933–1945, 1975)
- Geoffrey Cocks, Repressing, Remembering, Working Through: German Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, and the "Missed Resistance" in the Third Reich,The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 64, Supplement: Resistance Against the Third Reich (Dec., 1992), pp. S204-S216.
German
- Zehn Jahre Berliner Psychoanalytisches Institut (Poliklinik und Lehranstalt) / Hrsg. v.d. Dt. Psychoanalyt. Gesellschaft. Mit e. Vorw. v. Sigmund Freud, Wien: Internat. Psychoanalyt. Verl., 1930.
- Bannach, H.-J.: "Die wissenschaftliche Bedeutung des alten Berliner Psychoanalytischen Instituts" In: Psyche 23, 1969, pp. 242–254.
- Regine Lockot, Erinnern und Durcharbeiten: zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse und Psychotherapie im Nationalsozialismus, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1985.
French
- Collectif édité pour la France sous la dir.: Alain de MijollaAlain de MijollaAlain de Mijolla is a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Mijolla was analyzed by Conrad Stein and Denise Brauschweig. He became a psychoanalyst in the Societe Psychoanalytique de Paris in 1968...
: "- Ici, la vie continue d'une manière fort surprenante..." : Contribution à l'Histoire de la Psychanalyse en Allemagne., Ed.: Association internationale d'histoire de la psychanalyse, 1987, ISBN 2854801539