Oswald Bumke and his Munich Workgroup

Abstract

Once the consultations over Kraepelin’s successor started at the beginning of the twenties, it was assumed that one of his pupils would be offered the chair for psychiatry int Munich. Most people presumed Robert Gaupp, who had moved from Heidelberg to Munich together with Kraepelin, would be chosen. He was Kraepelin’s first senior consultant in Munich until he took over the chair for psychiatry in Tubingen in 1906. Karl Bonhoeffer (1868–1948), holder of the chair of psychiatry in Berlin, was also a possible candidate. Compared to Kraepelin and Gaupp, Bonhoeffer was of the opinion that the psychiatric university clinics should be transformed into clinics for nervous disorders by integrating neurological clinics. In spite of the differing views on the subject, Kraepelin would have agreed to Bonhoeffer as his successor. The medical faculty put Bonhoeffer at the top of their list at »primo loco« and he was offered the position in 1922, but turned it down a couple of months later after »considering the matter thoroughly«. Hence, Oswald Bumke received the offer, which surprised many.