["Mechanization of death"-The crematorium of Ueckermünde mental institution during National Socialism]. / "Technisierung des Todes" ­ Das Krematorium der Heilanstalt Ueckermünde im Nationalsozialismus.

The intensity of the research undertaken in recent decades into the killing of the sick during the Nazi period has produced a wealth of publications that will have a long-reaching impact; however, gaps in the research remain, both at regional level and with regard to the national campaign. This article focuses on the region of Pomerania, which in a whole range of ways followed its own course in the extermination of mentally ill and disabled people. It sheds light on a feature of the psychiatric landscape under the Nazis which has drawn little attention to date: the construction of the first crematorium within an asylum in the Third Reich, in 1940 in Ueckermünde. On the basis of archive material explored here for the first time, the role of the crematorium in the killing of the sick on a regional level is discussed, as is its link to the organizers of the centralized T4 campaign in Berlin. The article asks whether and to what extent there was, during the early phase of the "euthanasia" killings, a parallel regionally initiated extermination operation targeting the sick, and whether and to what extent this was tolerated or even supported by Berlin. It also provides interesting insights into the "knowledge transfer" between the head of the Ueckermünde asylum Hans-Dietrich Hilweg and the head of the asylum in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, Valentin Faltlhauser, on how best to hide or minimize the traces of the murders. These insights clearly exemplify the transformation process postulated by Ernst Fraenkel from a normative state to a prerogative state.

[On the way to democracy-The transformation process 1990/1991 and the role of the Association for Psychiatry and Neurology in the GDR]. / Auf dem Weg zur Demokratie ­ der Transformationsprozess 1990/91 und die Rolle der Gesellschaft für Psychiatrie und Nervenheilkunde in der DDR.

OBJECTIVE: The transition from socialist dictatorship to liberal democracy in the GDR was associated with political and social upheaval. The transformation accompanying the democratic sociopolitical process is examined using the example of the Association for Neurology and Psychiatry of the GDR, which led to its unification with the German Association for Psychiatry and Neurology (DGPN). METHOD: For the historical investigation material from the archives of the DGPPN as well as the personal belongings of the protagonists of the time were used and eyewitness interviews were conducted. RESULTS: The transformation process can also be seen for the Association for Neurology and Psychiatry of the GDR. As at the political level, there was also a loss of legitimacy at the board level of the Association for Psychiatry and Neurology in 1990. The new understanding of democracy required the participation of all members. The Spokesman Council and the DGPN (East) were responsible for establishing and consolidating democratic structures. CONCLUSION: Beyond the transformation process, little is known about the merger. The phase of reorientation at the beginning of the 1990s should be examined for the DGPN as well as the question of how to deal with the suspected political abuse of psychiatry in the GDR.

[An Essential Therapeutic: Occupational Therapy in GDR Psychiatric Institutions as Seen by Contemporary Witnesses]. / "Ein wesentliches Therapeutikum" ­ Arbeitstherapie in psychiatrischen Einrichtungen der DDR aus Sicht von Zeitzeugen.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this survey of professionals working in the GDR and former patients was to help determine the role and function of occupational therapy in psychiatric institutions. METHODOLOGY: 74 contemporary witnesses were interviewed who had worked professionally in psychiatric institutions in the GDR or had been treated there in adulthood. The interviews were evaluated qualitatively. RESULTS: The eyewitnesses interviewed described the organisation and goals of occupational therapy as well as changes that took place over time. Occupational therapy was rated highly, as it represented an important additional therapy offering. Uniform activities and the misuse of patients' labor while neglecting their therapeutic requirements were subjected to critical assessment. CONCLUSION: In future, the interviews with contemporary witnesses should be included to a greater extent in investigations into the history of psychiatry. The view of the development of occupational therapy can provide valuable insights for further historical reappraisal, and contribute to our current understanding of these forms of therapy.

[On "Alienated Consumption" - How a Large Company in the GDR Dealt With Alcohol Abuse]. / Vom "wesensfremden Konsum" ­ Zum Umgang mit der Alkoholproblematik in einem DDR-Großbetrieb.

The paper investigates the treatment of alcohol abuse in the GDR, and specifically in Rostock, and was written using insights from the documentary film Abhängig [Addicted], which was filmed in 1983. This is not a film analysis. Rather, the paper functions as an impetus to examine from a micro-historical perspective the various dimensions of the way in which alcoholism was dealt with in a large GDR enterprise. From a historical perspective, the documentary is interesting in several respects and is ideally suited as both a source and an analytical tool for the study of the history of psychiatry in former East Germany. By intertwining perspectives from the history of ideas and social history, the film makes it possible to experience the tension between social ostracism, on the one hand, and acceptance of alcoholism as a disease, on the other. Moreover, it also shows attempts to establish therapies in multiprofessional teams and thus, ways out of addiction. Extensive archival material, viewed here for the first time, as well as interviews with contemporary witnesses are used as sources to supplement the film. The insight which the combined sources provide into the social space of a large, "volkseigener" [nationally owned] enterprise (the Neptune shipyard with polyclinic) permits a more nuanced insight into real socialist society and - in the broadest sense - into its specific approach towards deviant and depending on interpretation, marginal-asocial or pathological excessive alcohol consumption. In addition to highlighting different perspectives on alcoholism in the GDR, in the course of whose existence/history an expansion of the scope of medical definitions took place, the paper aims to provide impetus for comparative research and to point out where shifts in perspective may be necessary. In the long-term, the goal of such research would be to make generally valid statements about the role of psychiatry in the context of the healthcare system of the GDR.

[History of neurology in the GDR: a systematic review]. / Neurologie in der DDR: eine systematische Literaturübersicht zur historischen Aufarbeitung.

BACKGROUND: Neurology as a discipline developed differently in the two German states after 1945 and little is known about neurology in the GDR. OBJECTIVE: This article examines the present state of historical research on neurology in the GDR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically screened the existing literature from the period 1991-2021 and assigned the studies to different categories. RESULTS: We found significant regional differences in the way specific topics are addressed. We also identified a lack of a general overview on the subject and a lack of studies dealing with neurology within the specific socio-political context of the GDR. Comparative studies between the GDR and the BRD and between the GDR and other countries are also scarce. CONCLUSION: Further systematic research (in the form of a separate research project) into the history of neurology in the GDR and its role within the socialist healthcare system of the GDR is needed, taking comparative aspects into account.

["Euthanasia" of children in Nazi Germany - the case of Günter Nevermannn. On the responsibility of childhood and adolescent psychiatry in the past, the present, and the future]. / Nationalsozialistische «Kindereuthanasie¼ - das Beispiel Günter Nevermann. Zur Verantwortung der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie in Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft.

«Euthanasia¼ was the cynical euphemism used by the Nazis to refer to the systematic murder of hundreds of thousands of mentally sick and handicapped people between 1939 and 1945, at least 6,000 of whom were children. Based on the example of Günter Nevermann, this paper provides insight into the complex acts of registering, selecting, and targeting children labelled as "inferior" and "unworthy to live." This case clearly shows that Nazi doctors were not necessarily enmeshed in some tragic conflict. Rather, apparently without any qualms, they sacrificed the sick children who had been entrusted to their care, for the ideal of obtaining a "racially healthy corpus," a term used without being questioned. Most of the perpetrators were never brought to justice, and not a few of them later held managerial positions in child and adolescent psychiatry in the two German states. Many of them were members or even honorary members of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie e. V." in its present or previous form. We feel it is necessary to inform the public effectively about this state of affairs, to discover what really happened and to determine who was responsible.

["No pleasant side can be discovered in this young boy"--aspects of "child euthanasia" in Silesia]. / "Irgend eine angenehme Seite ist bei dem Jungen nicht zu entdecken"--Aspekte der "Kindereuthanasie" in Schlesien.

Several thousand children also fell victim to the murder committed on physically or mentally handicapped persons under the term "euthanasia" during Nazi times. While at first they were included in the killings administered under "Action T4", beginning in 1941 the process of selection and murder was relocated to specialized "child departments" developed just for this purpose. Under the auspices of the Reich Committee for the Scientific Registering of Serious Hereditary and Congenital Illnesses (Reichsausschuss zur wissenschaftlichen Erfassung erb- und anlagebedingter schwerer Leiden) a network expanded with the objective of screening children and youth that did not seem fit and supportable for society and future generations. Care and educational institutions increasingly came into the center of attention. The primarily pedagogically motivated intent of removing children and youth from a harmful environment could very easily and quickly turn into organized murder. An example of this is Peter A. from Görlitz, who was ten years of age at the time of his murder. His path from his family to the corrective care that ultimately lead to his commitment into the specialized "child department" in Loben took less than half a year. His right to life was denied by Elisabeth Hecker, the director of the youth psychiatric clinic, as a result of labeling him as disruptive and useless.

[The Journal "Deine Gesundheit" - A Reflection of Social Psychiatry in the GDR?] / "Deine Gesundheit" ­ Spiegelbild der Sozialpsychiatrie in der DDR?

BACKGROUND: Articles on psychiatric care in the GDR published in the journal "Deine Gesundheit" are identified. This involved examining how psychiatry was presented to the public and the intentions of addressing a lay audience. METHODOLOGY: All booklets published between 1955 and 1989 were systematically reviewed, the role of the publishers examined, and an assessment made in the context of social psychiatry and sociopolitical conditions. RESULTS: There was a lively publication activity of psychiatric topics by mainly professional actors. The temporal accumulation in the context of psychiatric reform efforts is striking. CONCLUSIONS: Reform-oriented psychiatrists in particular used the popular science medium to reach a broad public and thus greater social acceptance of community psychiatric care concepts.

[Socialistic university policy between demand and reality--the example of Hans Heygster at the Rostock University Hospital of Psychiatry and Neurology]. / Sozialistische Hochschulpolitik zwischen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit--Das Beispiel Hans Heygster an der Universitäts-Nervenklinik Rostock.

The extent and boundaries of political influence are a central issue in the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). After 1945 socialist leaders attempted to exert political influence on education in the Soviet occupied zone and the later GDR. The Second University Reform in 1951/52 introduced a fundamental break with established university structures. One major aim was the establishment of a "new socialist intelligentsia" that was to spread the Marxist-Leninist theories at universities. Due to a lack of qualified personnel in the medical faculties, this aim was far from being reached until the end of the 1950s. The example of the university lecturer Hans Heygster (1905-1961), who worked at the East-German University Hospital of Psychiatry and Neurology in Rostock between 1946 and 1953, shows how the GDR rulers sought to influence university education. It illustrates the opportunities and restrictions that University lecturers in East Germany faced during this time. Heygster soon found himself in real conflict, namely between political aims and demands set and reality. Based on of archival sources the study elaborates the background, the course of events and the consequences of these conflicts.

Illnesses of the will in 'pre-psychiatric' times.

Since its emergence as a medical discipline in its own right, i.e. since the end of the eighteenth century, disorders of the will have constituted a major area of interest for psychiatrists. But even before then, in 'pre-psychiatric' times so to speak, there were occasional descriptions of illnesses of the will or, in the nomenclature used at the time,'ambiguous emotional states of minds'.This study presents some very early attempts to tackle and explain the problems of amentia occulta, manie sons délire and monomania in German literature, concentrating on works written from a medical and philosophical perspective. Beginning with the differentiation between will and reason, this study explores some concepts in which the will was perceived as a possible cause of mental illness and thus became a topic of medical interest.

[The Juliane Hochriehser case--a classical case of anosognosia]. / Der Fall Juliane Hochriehser: Ein klassischer Fall von Anosognosie.

Still today anosognosia as a phenomenon attracts the attention of both clinicians and researchers. Patients affected by this syndrome deny an obvious neurological dysfunction caused by a defined damage in their brains. This lack of awareness of their impairment is the most interesting feature of this syndrome. In the neuropsychiatric literature case studies have played an important role, among them four contributions by Gabriel Anton (1858-1933) at the end of the 19th century. The phenomenon described by him in these case studies was later referred to as anosognosia by Josef François Babinski (1857-1932). Recognising his achievements in the description of this phenomenon one kind of anosognosia, namely cortical blindness, is still referred to in the scientific literature as the Anton-Syndrome (also Anton Symptom). Using the recently discovered original files of 1895/96 our study substantiates one case described by Anton. The case in question is that of Juliane Hochriehser, a 69-year old dairymaid who showed anosognosia with cortical deafness due to bilateral lesion of the temporal lobes. Other cases of his are also included. The study concludes with an overview of the current state of research and the different approaches to this syndrome. Yet it is still not clear which areas and structures in the brain are responsible for the development of anosognosia. It may well be that dextral or bilateral damage of several areas of the brain plays a major role.

[Psychiatry in East Germany (GDR) Between Awakening and Stagnation: The Brandenburg Proposition to the "Therapeutic Community" (1974/76)]. / Psychiatrie in der DDR zwischen Aufbruch und Stagnation: Die Brandenburger Thesen zur "Therapeutischen Gemeinschaft" (1974/76).

Inspired by the concept of the English psychiatrist Maxwell Jones, the Brandenburg proposition or thesis towards the "Therapeutic Community" was formulated in 1974. Its objective was to transform the therapeutic environment in psychiatric hospitals of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Based on sources from the Federal Archive in Berlin and for the first time from the Historical Archive of the Asklepios Hospital in Brandenburg, the motivation, implementation and effect of the so-called Brandenburg proposition will be analysed within its socio-political context. Although it was not able to exert a broader influence on the provision of psychiatric care, important impulses for the development of social psychiatry and psychotherapy in the GDR were nonetheless given. The discussions on the concept of "therapeutic community" illustrated that this concept was supposed to coincide with the socio-political objectives of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and their principles of collective education.

[50 years Rodewisch theses--for the beginnings of social-psychiatric reforms in East Germany (GDR)]. / 50 Jahre Rodewischer Thesen - Zu den Anfängen sozialpsychiatrischer Reformen in der DDR.

The so-called Rodewisch Theses of 1963 demonstrate East German psychiatry's attempts to implement social-psychiatric reforms. To mark their 50th anniversary, this article analyses their emergence, drafting and implementation. It has been known that key requirements could only be fulfilled on a regional basis, the Leipzig University Department of Psychiatry being an outstanding example, although its staff worked rather autonomously of the Rodewisch Theses. The reasons for the different degree of success of these developments in individual areas are manifold, key reasons being the lack of stark political support and of opportunity to discuss shortcomings in mental health care, as in Western Germany, due to political circumstances in particular. There was no strong social basis and support as in Western democracies.

History of social psychiatry.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The overview focuses on publications relating to the history of social psychiatry and the mental health movement, respectively. RECENT FINDINGS: The selected works show fundamental developments within psychiatry, which can be conceived in the broadest sense as sociomedical in nature. Main emphases are the criticism of large institutions, reform movements and antipsychiatric movements, the search for alternative therapeutic methods, and the question of the resocialization of the mentally ill. Furthermore, it is important to demonstrate the influences of other scientific disciplines. SUMMARY: Although social psychiatric approaches can be discerned as early as in the 19th century, the focus of the works lies on the development of social psychiatry in the 20th century. Only from the 1950s onwards did social psychiatry establish itself as an integral part of psychiatric practice and later of research. Accordingly, the main focus of the studies is on the development after the Second World War, not least because processes that began at that time have not yet been concluded. Happily, a trend is apparent in this respect: the one-sided view of physicians and their actions is being increasingly complemented by further professional groups and is consequently broadened by important dimensions.

["On hidden madness"--"De amentia occulta" by Ernst Platner in early 19th-century tension of medicine and jurisprudence]. / "Vom versteckten Wahnsinn"--Ernst Platners Schrift "De amentia occulta" im Spannungsfeld von Medizin und Jurisprudenz im frühen 19. Jahrhundert.

During the first half of the 19th century psychiatry became more and more influential in the evaluation of mentally ill offenders. "Doubtful" states of mind gained a particular importance for forensic practice. One of the mental disorders that was heavily disputed was amentia occulta (hidden madness) first described by the well-known Leipzig doctor and philosopher Ernst Platner. This publication (1797) preluded several other diagnoses to refer to non-obvious, "hidden mental derangements". Regardless of the differences in arguments as developed by the experts in question (E. T. A. Hoffmann, Merzdorff, E. Horn, J. C. A. Clarus), two case studies from the early 19 (th) century (D. Schmolling, J. C. Woyzeck) will exemplify the process of medicine, and psychiatry in particular, becoming more and more influential in everyday jurisdictional practice. The above-mentioned Ernst Platner, the author of manifold forensic studies and of "De amentia occulta", was one of the pioneers and promoters of this process. By emphasising the importance of mental states being evaluated by medical professionals he contributed a great deal to the establishment of forensic psychiatry.