Abstract
Much has been said and written about Emil Kraepelin's psychiatric theories and nosology, but next to nothing about his sociopolitical engagement after assuming the directorship of the university clinic in Munich in 1903. This engagement took various forms, ranging from caustic confrontations in his battles against alcoholism and syphilis, to subversive activities aimed at toppling the German chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg in 1917, as well as to overt attacks on the fledgling democratic roots of the Weimar Republic. This paper explores the origins and extent of Kraepelin's public engagement and points toward ties linking it with clinical reality and psychiatric theory.
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