Matthias Heinrich Göring (5 April 1879,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

– 24/25 July 1945, Posen) was a German psychiatrist, born in

. He died in prison in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. He was an active

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. Göring started his studies with a doctorate in law, and a doctorate in medicine at

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

in 1907. Specializing in psychiatry and neurology he did a training analysis with Adlerian Leonhard Seif in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Like his fellow Adlerians Seif and Fritz Künkel, Göring placed an emphasis upon "community feeling," to which he added German patriotism and Christian pietism. He was therefore critical of the contemporary Freudian

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 ...

for its alleged materialism and pansexualism. Göring's significance in the history of psychoanalysis stems from his career after 1933. His position as leader of organized

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

stemmed from the fact that he was an elder cousin of the Nazi

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

. In part to protect the fledgling institution of psychotherapy against Nazi medical activists and university psychiatrists, Göring (who joined the Nazi party in 1933) preached against "Jewish" psychoanalysis and supervised the exclusion of Jewish psychoanalysts, particularly those from the

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

school of thought, from his society and institute. In 1934 Göring assumed leadership of the German General Medical Society for Psychotherapy and from 1936 to 1945 both annexed and then became director of the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute/German Institute for Psychological Research and Psychotherapy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1938 he presided over the dissolution of the German Psychoanalytic Society and the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society/Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute, although made official on 25 August, Göring left behind a small "study group" in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

connected to the Göring Institute. and appointed psychiatrist/neurologist Heinrich Von Kogerer as its figurehead.''Psychotherapy in the Third Reich'' edited by Thomas Blomberg Matthias also employed the psychotherapists Felix Boehm, Carl Müller-Braunschweig, Harald Schultz-Hencke, and Werner Kemper and a friend to

Karen Horney Karen Horney (; ; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories ...

, all of them members of the anti- or

Neo-Freudianism Neo-Freudianism is a psychoanalytic approach derived from the influence of Sigmund Freud but extending his theories towards typically social or cultural aspects of psychoanalysis over the biological. The neo-Freudian school of psychiatrists and ...

movement. In 1933, Harald Schultz-Hencke like several non-Jewish psychotherapists helped set up the " Goering Institute" which was closely linked to the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

and promoted a "New German soul medicine," a psychotherapy for Germans.

References

* Cocks, Geoffrey. (1985). ''Psychotherapy in the Third Reich: The Göring Institute'' (2nd ed). New York: Oxford University Press. () * Alain de Mijolla: ''International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis'', 2nd vol.: "Göring, Matthias Heinrich Goring (1879–1945)", MacMillan Reference Books, {{DEFAULTSORT:Goring, Matthias 1879 births 1945 deaths German military personnel of World War II German psychiatrists History of psychiatry Sturmabteilung personnel German people who died in Soviet detention Infectious disease deaths in Poland Scientists from Düsseldorf People from the Rhine Province Deaths from dysentery Physicians from North Rhine-Westphalia Nazis who died in prison custody