Haizmann’s Madness: the Concept of Bizarreness and the Diagnosis of Schizophrenia

Abstract

Christoph Haizmann, a seventeenth-century Bavarian painter, suffered from abnormal religious experiences. Our study considers whether Haizmann’s case fits the model of schizophrenia through the concept of ‘bizarreness’. Haizmann’s words and actions were discordant and bizarre even within the religious framework of the seventeenth century.

We propose that ‘bizarreness’ is an expression of relative deviation from the social and cultural norms of a particular epoch and that ‘bizarreness’ may be an important concept as an indicator of schizophrenia. In this sense, Haizmann was likely to have suffered from schizophrenia. Haizmann’s case may offer a good example for the investigation of schizophrenia in history through the concept of ‘bizarreness’, an approach that can indicate deviation from ordinariness and commonness even in religious models.