Galerie
Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, “Burghölzli”
Collection Burghölzli at Staatsarchiv of the canton of Zurich
In 1870, the Kantonale Irren-Heilanstalt Burghölzli replaced the Irrenhaus im Predigerspital in the city center. It offered three classes of treatment: First class patients had multiple rooms and private carers, while second and third class patients were accommodated in “workers’ quarters.” Under director Eugen Bleuler (1857–1939), the university clinic became known right across Europe, and was visited by numerous psychiatrists for educational purposes. In 1908 Bleuler presented a new conception of schizophrenia. Patients usually remained at Burghölzli for a maximum of two years, at which point, if they were unable to be released, they were transferred to the Pflegeanstalt Rheinau. The archive, which was given to the State Archives of the Canton of Zurich in 2001, contains 25,321 files from between 1870 and 1930. The 5,064 files that were examined (one fifth of the entire collection) contained 349 works. The rules for anonymization are particularly strict here. Therefore the drawings of a the (male) patient with the patient file number 14573, a series of thirty-five animal drawings, are signed “(m) 14573”. In the file of the embroiderer Jeanne (Johanna) Natalie Wintsch (1871-1944) there are drafts and explanations for here embroideries, about which has been published several times. The “Burghölzli Collection” owns three large-sized embroideries.
Exhibition
2010–2012 “Rosenstrumpf und dornencknie. Werke aus der Psychiatrischen Pflegeanstalt Rheinau 1867–1930“. Museum im Lagerhaus, St. Gallen, 1.12.2010-13.3.2011, Medizinhistorisches Museum der Universität Zürich, 16.6.2011-19.1.2013 (Catalogue)
References
Bernet, Brigitta, Schizophrenie. Entstehung und Entwicklung eines psychiatrischen Krankheitsbildes um 1900, Zürich 2013
Bleuler, Eugen, Dementia praecox oder die Gruppe der Schizophrenien, Leipzig und Wien 1911
Brand-Claussen, Bettina, Zünde deine Augen an. Gestickte Liebesarabesken von Johanna Wintsch, in: dies. und Viola Micheli (Hg.), Irre ist weiblich. Künstlerische Interventionen von Frauen in der Psychiatrie um 1900, Heidelberg 2004, S. 93-103
dies. “’Je me déclare Dieu-Mère, Femme-Créateur’. Die Schöpfungen der Stickkünstlerin Johanna Wintsch (1871-1944)“, in: Luchsinger Katrin, (ed.), Pläne. Werke aus psychiatrischen Kliniken in der Schweiz 1850-1920, Zürich 2008, S. 45-58
http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch, Texte zu Psychiatrie, Bernhard von Gudden, Auguste Forel, Eugen Bleuler
Luchsinger, Katrin, Hirsch, Helen, Röske, Thomas (eds.), Extraordinaire! Unbekannte Werke aus psychiatrischen Einrichtungen in der Schweiz um 1900/Extraordinairy! Unknown Works from Psychiatric Institutions in Switzerland around 1900, (Catalogue d/e), Zürich 2018
Luchsinger, Katrin, Die Vergessenskurve. Werke von Patientinnen und Patienten in psychiatrischen Anstalten um 1900. Eine kulturanalytische Studie, Zürich 2016
dies., Iris Blum, Jacqueline Fahrni, Monika Jagfeld (eds.), Rosenstrumpf und dornencknie. Werke aus der Psychiatrischen Pflegeanstalt Rheinau 1867-1930, (Catalogue), Zürich 2010
Meier, Marietta et al., Zwang zur Ordnung. Psychiatrie im Kanton Zürich 1870-1970. Zürich 2007
Z., Anna, (1916) “Lebensbeschreibung einer (Unglücklichen!) sowie die Schilderung der Erlebnisse während zehn Jahren im Irrenhaus“, Luchsinger, Katrin, (Hrsg.), Zürich 2013