Jean-Martin Charcot im Spiegel der deutschen Nervenheilkunde

Wilhelm Erb (1840-1921), an influential German founder of neurology in the nineteenth century

As an internist, Wilhelm Erb (1840-1921) developed neurology (he also used the term "neuropathology" synonymously) in the tradition of his teacher, Nikolaus Friedreich, in Heidelberg. He left behind a huge corpus of semiological and nosological elements that now constitute our current knowledge of neurology, much more than just the eponyms associated with his name. In 1891, he founded the journal Zeitschrift für Nervenheilkunde [Journal of Neurology] together with internist-neurologist colleagues, thus creating the counterpart to the Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten [Archive for Psychiatry and Neurology], which was founded by Berlin neuropsychiatrists Wilhelm Griesinger and Carl Westphal. Despite his reservations about the Gesellschaft Deutscher Nervenärzte [Society of German Nerve Doctors], he was elected its first president in 1907. Erb was also one of the most important representatives of electrodiagnosis and therapy in Europe. He had many disciples who were part of the Heidelberg School of Neurology. His anti-Semitism-a widespread Zeitgeist phenomenon-was documented in several letters to his friend, neurologist Adolf von Strümpell, in which he expressed his contempt for the growing role of Jewish neurologists. Erb's retirement years were marked by illnesses, depression, and grief over the death of three of his sons.

Some comparative psychiatric studies in the 19th century

This article analyses 19th-century publications which dealt with the social and cultural aspects of psychiatric disorders in different parts of the world. Systematic reviews were conducted of three German medical journals, one Russian medical journal, and a relevant monograph. All these archives were published in the 19th century. Our work highlights the fact that long before Kraepelin, several, mostly forgotten, publications had already discussed cultural aspects, social conditions, the influence of religion, the influence of climate, and also "race" as a trigger or amplifier of psychiatric diseases. These publications also reflect racist notions of the colonial period.