Robert Gaupp
Encyclopedia
Robert Eugen Gaupp was a German psychiatrist
and neurologist
who was a native of Neuenbürg
, Württemberg
.
Gaupp was an assistant to Carl Wernicke (1848-1905) and Karl Bonhoeffer
(1868-1948) at Breslau, and afterwards worked with Emil Kraepelin
(1856-1926) at the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich. From 1908 to 1936 he was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Tübingen. One of his assistants was Ernst Kretschmer
. Following World War II, he was departmental head of health and welfare for the city of Stuttgart
(1945-48).
Gaupp performed numerous investigations of psychological disorders, and is remembered for his case studies of mass-murderer Ernst August Wagner
(1874-1938). He was particularly interested in correlations between personality and psychosis
, and was an advocate of "pastoral psychology". For a period of time, he was also editor of the Zentralblatt für Nervenheilkunde und Psychiatrie.
Sometime shortly after the passage by decree on September 15, 1935, of the "Nuremberg Laws
"(officially "Laws for the Protection of German Blood and Honor"), Gaupp came to the support of a local physician, Albrecht Schroeder (pictured at left in image below), a collegiate fraternity brother in a non-fighting order, die Igel (the Hedgehogs), to which Gaupp also belonged. With the passage of the Nuremberg Laws and the preemption of organizational authority to permit Jewish membership in non-dueling fraternal orders (Jews had never been permitted to join German dueling orders), Schroeder's status was made precarious because he was married to a Jew, née Felicia Rosenstein of Bad Canstatt, an outer district of Stuttgart. At a meeting convened of the general membership to decide upon Schroeder's suitability for membership given Schroeder's marital status and his "Mischling
" (mixed race) children, Gaupp, otherwise unaffiliated with Schroeder (Gaupp was 65 at the time, Schroeder 44; and the two had never before met), declared before those assembled: "Wenn der Schroeder raus muss, dann geh ich auch." (If Schroeder goes, then I go, too.) Schroeder withdrew his petition sometime before final disposition by the fraternity towards his case, and Gaupp himself left the organization voluntarily around the same time, as he had pledged doing on behalf of Schroeder. The two men remained close friends until Gaupp's death in 1953. An account of this episode is made in article authored by Schroeder's grandson, Matthew T. Witt, entitled "Sorrowful Empire, Distempered Union: Negative Dialectics and the Art(s) of Freedom," published in the journal Administrative Theory & Praxis, March, 2008 (Vol. 30, Issue 1).
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...
and neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
who was a native of Neuenbürg
Neuenbürg
Neuenbürg is a town in the Enz district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Enz, 10 km southwest of Pforzheim.The town has three stops, Neuenbürg, Neuenbürg Süd and Neuenbürg Freibad, on route S6 of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, which operates over the Enztalbahn railway....
, Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
.
Gaupp was an assistant to Carl Wernicke (1848-1905) and Karl Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer family
The Bonhoeffer FamilyKarl Bonhoeffer was a prominent psychiatrist/neurologist in Germany. Bonhoeffer opposed the ideas of Freud and Jung and, although initially in favour of sterilization programmes, it is said he refused to participate in the Nazi-sponsored sterilization programme started before...
(1868-1948) at Breslau, and afterwards worked with 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) at the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich. From 1908 to 1936 he was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Tübingen. One of his assistants was Ernst Kretschmer
Ernst Kretschmer
Ernst Kretschmer Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. h.c., was a German psychiatrist who researched the human constitution and established a typology...
. Following World War II, he was departmental head of health and welfare for the city of Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
(1945-48).
Gaupp performed numerous investigations of psychological disorders, and is remembered for his case studies of mass-murderer Ernst August Wagner
Ernst August Wagner
Ernst August Wagner was a German spree killer who, on September 4, 1913 killed his wife and four children in Degerloch and subsequently drove to Mühlhausen an der Enz where he set several fires and shot 20 people, of whom at least 9 died, before he was beaten unconscious by furious villagers and...
(1874-1938). He was particularly interested in correlations between personality and psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
, and was an advocate of "pastoral psychology". For a period of time, he was also editor of the Zentralblatt für Nervenheilkunde und Psychiatrie.
Sometime shortly after the passage by decree on September 15, 1935, of the "Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
"(officially "Laws for the Protection of German Blood and Honor"), Gaupp came to the support of a local physician, Albrecht Schroeder (pictured at left in image below), a collegiate fraternity brother in a non-fighting order, die Igel (the Hedgehogs), to which Gaupp also belonged. With the passage of the Nuremberg Laws and the preemption of organizational authority to permit Jewish membership in non-dueling fraternal orders (Jews had never been permitted to join German dueling orders), Schroeder's status was made precarious because he was married to a Jew, née Felicia Rosenstein of Bad Canstatt, an outer district of Stuttgart. At a meeting convened of the general membership to decide upon Schroeder's suitability for membership given Schroeder's marital status and his "Mischling
Mischling
Mischling was the German term used during the Third Reich to denote persons deemed to have only partial Aryan ancestry. The word has essentially the same origin as mestee in English, mestizo in Spanish and métis in French...
" (mixed race) children, Gaupp, otherwise unaffiliated with Schroeder (Gaupp was 65 at the time, Schroeder 44; and the two had never before met), declared before those assembled: "Wenn der Schroeder raus muss, dann geh ich auch." (If Schroeder goes, then I go, too.) Schroeder withdrew his petition sometime before final disposition by the fraternity towards his case, and Gaupp himself left the organization voluntarily around the same time, as he had pledged doing on behalf of Schroeder. The two men remained close friends until Gaupp's death in 1953. An account of this episode is made in article authored by Schroeder's grandson, Matthew T. Witt, entitled "Sorrowful Empire, Distempered Union: Negative Dialectics and the Art(s) of Freedom," published in the journal Administrative Theory & Praxis, March, 2008 (Vol. 30, Issue 1).