Hans Prinzhorn
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Hans Prinzhorn (6 June 1886 – 14 June 1933) was a German psychiatrist and art historian.
Born in Hemer, Westphalia, he studied art history and philosophy at the universities of Tübingen, Leipzig and Munich, then receiving his doctorate under Theodor Lipps with the dissertation “Gottfried Semper’s basic aesthetic views” in 1908. He then went to the Leipzig Conservatory in 1909 and received lessons in music theory and piano. Afterwards he went to London to pursue his desire of becoming a singer, however his voice was ultimately not good enough for an artistic career. During the First World War, he assisted a military surgeon and in 1913 he finally started studying medicine, receiving his training at the universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg. He completed his second doctorate (in medicine) in 1919 at the University of Heidelberg after an invitation from Karl Wilmanns, with the dissertation “The artistic capabilities of the mentally ill”.
In 1919 he became assistant to Karl Wilmanns at the psychiatric hospital of the University of Heidelberg. His task was to expand an earlier collection of art created by the mentally ill and started by Emil Kraepelin. When he left in 1921 the collection was extended to more than 5,000 works by about 450 “cases”.
In 1922 he published his first and most influential book, Bildnerei der Geisteskranken. Ein Beitrag zur Psychologie und Psychopatologie der Gestaltung (Artistry of the mentally ill: A Contribution to the Psychology and Psychopathology of Configuration), richly illustrated with examples from the collection. While his colleagues were reserved in their reaction, the art scene was enthusiastic. Jean Dubuffet was highly inspired by the works, and the term Art Brut was coined.
The book is mainly concerned with the borderline between psychiatry and art, illness and self-expression. It represents one of the first attempts to analyse the work of the mentally ill.
After short stays at sanatoriums in Zürich, Dresden and Wiesbaden, he began a psychotherapy practice in Frankfurt in 1925, but without much success. He published a follow up project to his first book, titled “Bildnerei der Gefangenen” (Artistry of Prisoners) in 1926, however it was met with little success. He also wrote poems, which were published by a private publisher after his death. He continued to write numerous other books which were mainly on the field of psychotherapy. He approached psychology with an original method where he combined philosophy, anthropology and psychoanalysis. He went on to give lectures over radio, and he was a sought-after speaker home and abroad. He went to an invitation-based lecture tour of US universities in 1929. His original approach was well respected within the German community, however it was largely forgotten due to the dominant force of experimental psychology. His hopes to find a permanent position at a university were never fulfilled. Disillusioned by professional failures, and after three failed marriages, he moved in with an aunt in Munich and retreated from public life, making a living from giving lectures and writing essays. He died in 1933 in Munich after contracting typhus on a trip to Italy.
Shortly after his death the Prinzhorn Collection was stowed away in the attics of the university. In 1938 a few items were displayed in the Nazi propaganda exhibition Entartete Kunst (“Degenerate Art”). Since 2001 the collection has been on display in a former oratory of the University of Heidelberg.
In Hans Prinzhorn’s hometown of Hemer, the municipal secondary school and the local specialized clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy are named after him. A clinic for differentiated treatment options in compulsory and full-service settings, the clinic is sponsored by the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe. The clinic also serves as a training and continuing education institution. The Felsenmeer Museum, run by the Citizens’ and Local History Association, houses a Prinzhorn archive, largely filled with copies. The literary scholar Yukio Kotani, influenced by Ludwig Klages, campaigned to raise awareness of Prinzhorn’s work in Japan.
