Obituary – Horst Kächele (1944–2020)

International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 2013

Psychoanalysis and History

Please, never -I mean, never at any time, in any circumstance, endeavor to defend me, if and when you hear abusive remarks made about me and my work. Freud to H.D., in H.D., Tribute to Freud The title of Borch-Jacobsen's book speaks for itself: the book presents the life stories of 38 of Freud's patients in Vienna, beginning in 1880, before psychoanalysis was created, and continuing through approximately 1930. The stories are offered in chronological order according to when the patients were treated by Freud. The people whose true-life stories are thoughtfully recounted in the book have for the most part remained anonymous to the world; yet they have become famous under the nicknames Freud gave to them in his psychoanalytic studies, such as Anna O., Dora, the Wolf Man or the Rat Man. Freud's Patients strives to redeem the people beneath the psychoanalytic personas and tell their so-called real stories. Borch-Jacobsen selected only patients who sought analysis because of psychic turmoil and burdensome symptoms, excluding patients who came to Freud as part of their analytic training. Another criterion was that there be enough information available to justify a biographical note. This generous look at the patients' lives is the product of thorough research that includes Kurt Eissler's interview series, preserved in the Library of Congress; letters written by Freud and his colleagues as well as by the patients, their family members, and friends; and other historical references. The book was translated from French by Andrew Brown. The original edition was published 10 years ago, and the English edition includes two new biographical notes about Scofield Thayer and Carl Liebmann. The book is nicely designed and includes portraits of most of the patients and other relevant images that beautifully accompany the historical research. Some of the biographies presented here were new discoveries for me and will, I believe, be quite revealing to most readers. These include the stories of Wilhelm von Griendl, Baroness Marie von Ferstel, Alois Jeitteles and Carl Liebmann. The book makes some significant contributions to the history of psychoanalysis. One example is the thorough description of Bruno Veneziani, the brother-in-law of the writer Italo Svevo.

Boag, S. (2012). Freud, patricide, and the birth of the hero. [Review of the book The Letters of Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank: Inside Psychoanalysis]. PsycCRITIQUES-Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 57, 39

International Forum of Psychoanalysis

RG -- 24, Selected Correspondences between the Freudian Circle of Psychoanalysts, 1918 -- 1950s, 2018

This Collection presents a selected correspondence between the scholars and public figures related to a Freudian Circle of thought. Overall the exchange of narratives reflects on the Theory of Psychoanalysis, on administrative matters also related to practical application of Psycho Analysis and on personal subjects as well. Additionally, this collection comprises correspondences of birthday greeting, reciprocal letters of appreciation and several medical guides of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka. A collection of forty documents, largely official and personal correspondences. This Collection comprises correspondences between the scholars of a Freudian Circle over the time-period between 1918 and 1950s. The content of these correspondences is largely scientific, while the tone is friendly and amicable. The content reflects scientific discourses including discussions as well as informative and appreciation messages. The following psychoanalysts, scholars and public figures are the correspondents of the given collection: Dr. Ernst Simmel, Dr. Karl Abraham, Dr. Hanns Sachs, Dr. Bernfeld, Dr. Brunswick, Princess Marie Bonaparte, Dr. Brill, Dr. Karl Menninger, Dr. William Menninger, Dr. Fenichel, Margrit Libbin, Marth Freud, Dr. Anna Freud, Dr. Sigmund Freud, Dr. Erikson, William Harriman, Pryns Hopkins, Dr. Karen Horney, Dr. Windholz, Dr. Ernest Jones, Dr. Bertram Lewin, Carey McWilliams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Judge Westwick, Dr. Tidd, Dr. Zilborg, Dr. Murray, Dr. Kubie, Dr. Lewy, Frances Deri. Correspondences of this Collection reflect on the state of Psycho Analysis over the period from the rise of the new Science to its practical application into psychological and medical practice as well on the ramifications of the Theory of Psychoanalysis. The language of correspondences is German and English. These narrative in the form of correspondences or in some instances of the documents attached to the letters are imbued by Freudian conceptions and ideas. A circle of the second generation of Freudian scholars further deepened the Theory of Psychoanalysis, although eliciting the new paradigms and conceptions. All in all, this collection represents among the other valuable narratives, the correspondences penned by the dignitaries of Psycho Analytic world, for example Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud and the esteemed public figure, Princess Marie Bonaparte.

A time-honoured question runs: How do I know when I perceive something that I'm not dreaming? In his Meditations on First Philosophy René Descartes gave this answer: "It is manifestly impossible to doubt […] that I hold in my hand this piece of paper. But how could I deny that I possess these hands and this body, and withal escape being classed with persons in a state of insanity, whose brains are so disordered […] as to cause them pertinaciously to assert that they are monarchs when they are in greatest poverty." However, he then immediately lays another obstacle in the way of healthy human understanding. "Though this be true […] I must nevertheless here consider that I am a man, and that, consequently, I am in the habit of sleeping and representing to myself in dreams those same things, or even sometimes others less probable […] [A]ttentively considering these cases, I perceive so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep." Karl Philipp Moritz took this objection seriously, and concluded in his Magazin zur Erfahrungsseelenkunde (1786, Journal of Experiential Psychology) that the scholar should make dreams the object of his considerations precisely because he "is attempting to glance into the pathways of both fantasy and well-ordered thinking in their most remote recesses." Sigmund Freud followed in turn this cue, which led him into a devil's brew. He found here all the ingredients for the cuisine which, on waking, is served up to common sense as meaningless dreams. With the help of free association Freud believed he could follow this cuisine back in such a way that he broke through the border between reason and dream, and thereby lay open the way that led from a healthy to a diseased mental life.