Karl Wilhelm Ideler (25 October 1795 – 29 July 1860) was a German

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

. He was born in Bentwisch and died in Kumlosen near Wittenberge.

Life and career

In 1820 he earned his doctorate from the Friedrich Wilhelm Institute in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and spent the next several years as a general practitioner in the cities of Bernau, Rathenow and Genthin. In 1828 he returned to Berlin as head of the department for mental illness at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

. In 1840 he became a full professor and director of the psychiatric clinic. From 1839 until his death in 1860, he taught classes at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. His uncle was noted astronomer Christian Ludwig Ideler (1766–1846).ADB:Ideler, Karl Wilhelm
In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

(ADB). Band 13, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, S. 746 f. Ideler was one of the more prominent figures in regards to German psychiatric thought during the first half of the 19th century. This era is often described as the German "

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

" school of psychiatry. In his numerous publications, Ideler theorized on issues such as mind–body correlations, religious mania and religious confusion. Ideler introduced complex theories on the relationship between illnesses of the mind and the state of the physical body. During his time period, conditions at the Charité for mentally ill patients were often considered barbaric and inhumane. Ideler, not averse to punitive measures, made little effort to change these conditions. Later on,

Wilhelm Griesinger Wilhelm Griesinger (29 July 1817 – 26 October 1868) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist born in Stuttgart. Life and career He studied under Johann Lukas Schönlein at the University of Zurich and physiologist François Magendie in Pa ...

(1817–1868) would advocate significant changes towards humane and dignified treatment of the mentally ill at the Charité. Although Ideler is often portrayed as a product of an unenlightened era in psychiatric thought, he had several ideas that are consistent with modern

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

. He stressed the importance of the emotional life, and believed that unfulfilled passions could be a source of mental disturbance. He considered passion to be a form of mental disturbance, and that the physician needed to analyze the passion that provoked the mental imbalance.

Selected writings

* ''Anthropologie für Ärzte'' (

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

for physicians), (1827) * ''Grundriss der Seelenheilkunde'' (Outline of "soul treatment"), (1835) * ''Biographien Geisteskranker in ihrer psychologischen Entwicklung'' (1841) * ''Die Geisteskrankheiten in Beziehung zur Rechtspflege'' (Mental disorders in relationship with justice), (1844) * ''Der religiöse Wahnsinn, erläutert durch Krankengeschichten. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der religiösen Wirren der Gegenwart'' (Religious insanity, description of patient stories. A contribution to the history of religious confusion of the present), (1847) * ''Aversuch einer Theorie des religiösen Wahnsinns: ein Beitrag zur Kritik der religiösen Wirren der Gegenwart'' (Theorical attempt involving religious insanity: Contribution in regards to criticism of religious confusion of the present): ** 1. ''Die Erscheinungen des religiösen Wahnsinns'' (The features of religious insanity), (1848) ** 2. ''Die Entwickelung des religiösen Wahnsinns'' (The development of religious insanity), (1850).

References

German biography translated by Google

A Historical Dictionary of Psychiatry
by Edward Shorter. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ideler, Karl Wilhelm 1795 births 1860 deaths People from Wittenberge People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg German psychiatrists Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin History of psychiatry