Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Roller (11 January 1802 – 3 January 1878) was a German psychiatrist born in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

Career

Roller studied medicine at the Universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, and following graduation returned to Pforzheim to practice medicine. In 1827 he became an assistant at a mental institution in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and from 1835 to 1842 was director of the asylum. At the Heidelberg asylum he was distressed by the conditions he experienced, and in collaboration with physician Friedrich Groos (1768-1852), he developed plans for construction of a larger, more modern facility. Later his plans became reality when in 1842 he founded the Illenau Healing and Care Institution (''Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Illenau'') at

Achern Achern (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Achre) is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg. Achern is the fourth largest town in the distric ...

. Roller was director of the Illenau institution until his death in 1878. As a psychiatrist Roller was vehemently opposed to "city asylums", a standpoint which placed him at odds with a number of his contemporaries. He believed that an isolated non-urban setting such as Illenau was beneficial for a patients' return to mental health. In addition, he stressed the importance of separating the patient from his/her familiar surroundings. Two of the better known psychiatrists who served under him at Illenau were Bernhard von Gudden (1824-1886) and

Richard von Krafft-Ebing Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (full name Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing; 14 August 1840 – 22 December 1902) was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work '' Psychopath ...

(1840-1902).Google Books
Stepchildren of Nature: Krafft-Ebing, Psychiatry, etc.

Selected publications

* ''Die Irrenanstalt nach allen ihren Beziehungen dargestellt'', 1831. * ''Psychiatrische Zeitfragen aus dem Gebiet der Irrenfürsorge in und außer den Anstalten und ihren Beziehungen zum staatlichen und gesellschaftlichen Leben'', 1874.

References

* This article is based on a translation of articles on "Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Roller" and "Illenau" at the German Wikipedia, that includes: *
ADB:Roller, Christian Friedrich Wilhelm
@ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie {{DEFAULTSORT:Roller, Christian Friedrich Wilhelm 1802 births 1878 deaths People from Pforzheim German psychiatrists History of psychiatry