[Early Psychiatric Patient Registration and the Case of Wuerttemberg]. / Das "Kataster für württembergische Psychiatriepatienten" und der Beginn der systematischen Patientenerfassung in der Psychiatrie.

This article provides both an analysis of the impact of medical statistics on psychiatric research as well as biographical information on one of its central protagonists, Württemberg medical doctor Wilhelm Weinberg. Against the background of the assumption of genetic inheritance of mental illnesses, a paradigm shift took place in the sense of a further development of so-called statistics for the insane. In addition to innovative diagnostics and nosology of the Kraepelin school, the study of human genetics was expected to become a promising step towards the predictability of mental illnesses. In particular, psychiatrist and racial hygienist Ernst Rüdin did thus integrate Weinberg's research findings. Weinberg became the founding figure of a central patient register in Wuerttemberg. During National Socialism, however, usage of this register shifted from being an instrument for research to one of establishing a hereditary biological inventory.

[The "Hilfsverein für Nerven- und Gemütskranke in Württemberg" - On Post-Discharge Community Care for Psychiatric Patients, 1895-1975]. / Der "Hilfsverein für Nerven- und Gemütskranke in Württemberg" ­ Zur Geschichte poststationärer Begleitung psychisch Kranker, 1895­1975.

This article on the history of psychiatry provides an introductory overview of the development of psychiatric Hilfsvereine in Germany and for the first time describes the history of the Hilfsverein in the former kingdom of Württemberg - from its foundation until 1975, exploring various archival sources including this society's own archives. Since its foundation, the Hilfsverein had played a central role in the post-discharge care and support of mentally ill people in Württemberg. Until the years of National Socialism, the focus was on individual cases and family support, with a sharp ideological cut in this era. With the expansion of the social-psychiatric care structures, beginning in the late 1960 s, the focus of the society's work clearly shifted towards the support of projects for out-patients. The history of the Hilfsverein shows evidence of various breaks, as well as adjustments to political change and changes due to the development of the psychiatric care system.

The 'Poitrot Report', 1945: the first public document on Nazi euthanasia.

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the so-called 'Poitrot Report', submitted to the French Military Government in Baden-Baden, Germany, in December 1945 and published in a reduced German version in 1946. Its author was the French-Moroccan psychiatrist Robert Poitrot, who had been put in charge of the public mental asylums in Südwürttemberg after World War II. Poitrot took responsibility for restoring psychiatric care during the occupation, and was also eager to document Nazi 'euthanasia' and to start investigating the role of staff in mental hospitals during National Socialism. Focusing on the 'Poitrot Report', this paper also reflects on life in Württemberg mental hospitals and the interaction between French representatives such as Poitrot and regional German medical staff.

[University - Asylum - Military Hospital: Heidelberg Psychiatrist Hans W. Gruhle (1880 - 1958) in Wuerttemberg, 1935 - 1945]. / Universitätspsychiatrie, Heilanstalt, Wehrmachtslazarett: Der Heidelberger Psychiater Hans W. Gruhle (1880 ­â€Š1958) in der württembergischen Anstaltspsychiatrie 1935 ­â€Š1945.

Heidelberg psychiatrist Hans Walther Gruhle (1880 - 1958) faced a harsh interruption of his academic career, when National Socialist authorities put into doubt his reliability in respect to their political goals in 1934. Holding a senior position at Heidelberg's psychiatric university clinic, Gruhle had been transmitted to the state-run mental asylums of Zwiefalten and Weissenau, both geographically located in Southern Wuerttemberg. In function and spatial perspective, Gruhle thus came close to forced sterilization and so-called central euthanasia, initiated by the National Socialist health administration in late 1939. From 1940 however, Gruhle found himself delegated to the military hospital at Winnenden, near Stuttgart, where he continued to be in charge until 1945. Seemingly in accord with the visions of the French Army Forces and their medical branch, Gruhle became an advisor of the French Army after the end of WW II. Sources of Baden-Wuerttemberg State Archives as well as sources from the archives of the regional mental asylums are presented here, in order to re-construct biography and functional aspects of a German psychiatrist during war time.