Bernhard von Gudden
Encyclopedia
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
born in Kleve
Kleve
Kleve , is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Kleve was capital of a county and later a duchy...
.
In 1848 he earned his doctorate from the University of Halle, and became an intern at the asylum in Siegburg
Siegburg
--122.148.78.228 05:06, 14 November 2011 Siegburg is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany...
under Carl Wigand Maximilian Jacobi
Carl Wigand Maximilian Jacobi
Carl Wigand Maximilian Jacobi was a German psychiatrist who was a native of Düsseldorf. He was the son of philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi ....
(1775–1858). From 1851 to 1855 he worked as a psychiatrist under Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Roller
Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Roller
Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Roller was a German psychiatrist born in Pforzheim. -Career:Roller studied medicine at the Universities of Tübingen and Göttingen, and following graduation returned to Pforzheim to practice medicine...
(1802–1878) in the mental asylum at Illenau in Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
. From 1855 to 1869 he was director of the Unterfränkische Landes-Irrenanstalt mental institution in Werneck
Werneck
Werneck is a market town in the district of Schweinfurt in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.-Geography:Werneck is in the Main-Rhön region of Bavaria, approximately 12 km from Schweinfurt and 25 km from Würzburg. It is located on a bend in the Wern, a tributary of the Main, on the edge of...
. In 1869 he was appointed director of the Burghölzli
Burghölzli
Burghölzli is the common name given for the psychiatric hospital of the University of Zürich, Switzerland. The hospital is located on "Burghölzli", a wooded hill in the district of Riesbach of southeastern Zürich....
Hospital, as well as professor of psychiatry at the University of Zürich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
. Later in his career he was professor of psychiatry at the University of Munich.
Gudden made many contributions in the field of neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defined nervous systems, and thus we can begin to speak of...
, especially in his work of mapping and describing the paths, connections, origins/termini and neuroanatomical centers of cranial
Cranial nerves
Cranial nerves are nerves that emerge directly from the brain, in contrast to spinal nerves, which emerge from segments of the spinal cord. In humans, there are traditionally twelve pairs of cranial nerves...
and optic nerve
Optic nerve
The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve 2, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. Derived from the embryonic retinal ganglion cell, a diverticulum located in the diencephalon, the optic nerve doesn't regenerate after transection.-Anatomy:The optic nerve is the second of...
networks. The commissural fibers of the optic tract
Optic tract
The optic tract is a part of the visual system in the brain.It is a continuation of the optic nerve and runs from the optic chiasm to the lateral geniculate nucleus....
are called the commissure of Gudden in his honor, and he is credited for developing a specialized microtome
Microtome
A microtome is a sectioning instrument that allows for the cutting of extremely thin slices of material, known as sections. Microtomes are an important device in microscopy preparation, allowing for the preparation of samples for observation under transmitted light or electron radiation...
for sectioning the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
for pathological study. Among his well-known students and assistants are Emil Kraepelin
Emil Kraepelin
Emil Kraepelin was a German psychiatrist. H.J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, as well as of psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics. Kraepelin believed the chief origin of psychiatric disease to be biological and genetic...
(1856–1926), Franz Nissl
Franz Nissl
Franz Nissl was a German medical researcher. He was a noted neuropathologist.-Early life:...
(1860–1919), Auguste-Henri Forel
Auguste-Henri Forel
Auguste-Henri Forel was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist and psychiatrist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. For example, he is considered a co-founder of the neuron theory...
(1848–1931), Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser
Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser
Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser was a German psychiatrist born in Rhaunen. He earned his medical doctorate in 1876 from the University of Munich. Afterwards he worked briefly at a psychiatric clinic in Würzburg, and later as an assistant to neuroanatomist Bernhard von Gudden in Munich...
(1853–1931) and Oskar Panizza
Oskar Panizza
Leopold Hermann Oskar Panizza was a German psychiatrist and avant-garde author, playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, publisher and literary journal editor...
(1853–1921).
As director of mental institutions, Gudden advocated a no-restraint policy, humane treatment of the mentally ill, communal social interaction amongst patients, and a well-trained medical staff. These were considered innovative, if not revolutionary ideas concerning mental health treatment in the mid-19th century. Gudden was a respected psychiatrist in Germany and was appointed personal physician to King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
. On June 13, 1886, Ludwig and Gudden were both found dead in the water near the shore of Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg , 25 kilometers southwest of Munich in southern Bavaria, is Germany's fifth largest freshwater lake and, due to its large average depth, the second richest in water...
at 11:30 p.m., allegedly drowned, possibly murdered. To this day the details of their deaths remain a mystery.
After Gudden's death, his works were collected and edited by his son-in-law, psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Hubert von Grashey (1839–1914), and published in 1889 under the title Bernhard von Gudden’s gesammelte und hinterlassene Abhandlungen.
Selected writings
- Beiträge zur Lehre von den Scabies
- Experimentelle Untersuchungen über das Schädelwachstum