Burghölzli, named after the wooded hill in the district of Riesbach in southeastern
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
where it is located, is the ''Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich'' ('Psychiatric University Hospital Zürich'), a
psychiatric hospital
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...
in Switzerland.
As a
research hospital, it is associated with the
University of Zürich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
.
History
Before the construction of dedicated state-run institutions, most people with mental illnesses and disabilities were housed privately. A "counting of the insane" () in 1851 found that less than 10 percent of the 1281 individuals identified in the canton of Zurich were in the care of hospitals, most of which lacked dedicated psychiatric wards. In 1817, the city of Zürich had established such a ward in its "Old Hospital" () in the centre of the
old town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
. Initially, it provided 24 cells for mentally ill individuals. In the 1840s, the entire facility was converted to exclusively house chronically and mentally ill patients. The conditions in the Old Hospital were the subject of frequent criticism, which catalysed proposals for the construction of new asylums. By 1863, plans for a new asylum in the area had been completed. In 1864, the cantonal parliament voted to begin construction of the facility.
This expansion of psychiatric care came at a time during which public discourse, both in Switzerland and in other European countries, frequently framed the availability of inpatient care for the mentally ill as an indicator of societal progress.
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 Paris ...
was instrumental in the planning of the new asylum. Although he died before the building was established in 1870, he is considered the founder of the Burghölzli. From 1870 until 1879, the hospital had three directors,
Bernhard von Gudden
Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden (7 June 1824 – 13 June 1886) was a German neuroanatomist and psychiatrist born in Kleve.
Career
In 1848, von Gudden earned his doctorate from the University of Halle and became an intern at the asylum in Siegbu ...
,
Gustav Huguenin
Gustav Huguenin (17 July 1840 – 6 February 1920) was a Swiss internist and pathologist who was a native of Krauchthal.
Biography
He studied medicine at the Universities of Zürich, Prague, Vienna and Berlin, obtaining his medical doctorate i ...
and
Eduard Hitzig
Eduard Hitzig (6 February 1838 – 20 August 1907) was a German neurologist and neuropsychiatrist of Jewish ancestryAndrew P. Wickens, ''A History of the Brain: From Stone Age Surgery to Modern Neuroscience'', Psychology Press (2014), p. 226 ...
. All three men focused on
neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neuropsychiatry, the mind i ...
,
with brain
pathology
Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...
and
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
being the general focus of their research.
Auguste-Henri Forel
Auguste-Henri Forel (; 1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and former eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. He is considered a co ...
was the fourth director of Burghölzli, and spent nearly twenty years at the helm. Forel conducted
hypnosis
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...
experiments on both patients and staff, as well as teaching the method to his students. A staunch advocate of
eugenics
Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...
, he conducted
sterilization procedures at the clinic during his tenure. While the cited
indications at the time were of a therapeutic nature, he later wrote that this had been a "pretense", and that the only true purpose of these procedures had been a social one.
[
] Forced sterilizations of mentally ill patients would continue under his successors.
In 1898
Eugen Bleuler
Paul Eugen Bleuler ( ; ; 30 April 1857 – 15 July 1939) was a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist most notable for his influence on modern concepts of mental illness. He coined several psychiatric terms including "schizophrenia", " schizoid", "a ...
became director of the Burghölzli, where he would remain until 1927. The "Bleuler era" is considered the most illustrious period at the hospital, largely due to the advent of
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
, usage of Freudian psychiatric theories, and the creative work of Bleuler's assistant,
Carl Gustav Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a ...
. Bleuler was followed as director by Hans-Wolfgang Maier and afterwards by his son
Manfred Bleuler Manfred Bleuler (4 January 1903 – 4 November 1994) was a Swiss physician and psychiatrist. Following in the footsteps of his father, doctoral supervisor, and colleague, Eugen Bleuler, Manfred Bleuler was devoted primarily to the study and treatmen ...
.
In addition to Jung, many renowned psychiatrists spent part of their career at the Burghölzli, including
Karl Abraham
Karl Abraham (; 3 May 1877 – 25 December 1925) was an influential German psychoanalyst, and a collaborator of Sigmund Freud, who called him his 'best pupil'.
Life
Abraham was born in Bremen, Germany. His parents were Nathan Abraham, a Jewish ...
,
Ludwig Binswanger
Ludwig Binswanger (; ; 13 April 1881 – 5 February 1966) was a Swiss people, Swiss psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of existential psychology. His parents were Robert Johann Binswanger (1850–1910) and Bertha Hasenclever (1847–1896). ...
,
Eugène Minkowski
Eugène Minkowski (; born Eugeniusz Minkowski; 17 April 1885 – 17 November 1972) was a French psychiatrist of Jewish Polish origin, known for his incorporation of phenomenology into psychopathology and for exploring the notion of "lived time". ...
,
Hermann Rorschach,
Franz Riklin
Franz Beda Riklin (; 22 April 1878, St. Gallen – 4 December 1938, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist.
Early in his career, Franz Riklin worked at the Burghölzli Hospital in Zurich under Eugen Bleuler (1857–1939), and studied experimen ...
,
Constantin von Monakow, Eugen Bleuler,
Ernst Rüdin,
Adolf Meyer,
Abraham Brill and
Emil Oberholzer.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
's son,
Eduard Einstein
The Einstein family is the family of physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955). Einstein's great-great-great-great-grandfather, Jakob Weil, was his oldest recorded relative, born in the late 17th century, and the family continues to this day. Al ...
was a patient at Burghölzli, as was
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's daughter
Lucia Joyce. Today the Burghölzli is an important center for psychiatric research and the treatment of mental illness. The controversial
Ewen Cameron studied at Burghölzli in the late 1920s.
On March 6, 1971, a fire broke out at the clinic; 28 elderly male patients died from asphyxiation. There were bars on the windows, frustrating the attempts of rescuers to save lives.
["28 Elderly Men Die in Fire at Clinic in Zurich Suburb," ''New York Times'', March 7, 1971, p. 8.]
Trivia
The fictitious 2007 Swiss mystery film ''
Marmorera'' was filmed among others,
at the ''Bürghölzli'' sanatory in the
Weinegg district of Zürich, on the river
Limmat
The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...
near
Technopark Zürich
Technopark Zürich is a technopark research park based in the municipality of Zürich in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
History
Technopark Zürich was established in 1993. Its stated purpose was to provide rooms, offices and other spac ...
, at the
Limmatquai
''Limmatquai'' () is a street in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Zurich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the ''Altstadt (Zürich), Altstadt'', or historical core, of the c ...
promenade, and on the
Münsterbrücke river crossing towards
Münsterhof
Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof hill, Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest town square within the Altstadt (old town) of Zurich and i ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgholzli
Psychiatric hospitals in Switzerland
Hospitals established in 1870
Buildings and structures in Zurich
District 8 of Zurich