Otto Binswanger
{{for|the German-American chemist and toxicologist|Otto Saly Binswanger}}
Otto Ludwig Binswanger ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɪ|n|z|w|æ|ŋ|ər}}; {{IPA|de|ˈbɪsvaŋɐ|lang}}; 14 October 1852 in Scherzingen, Münsterlingen – 15 July 1929 in Kreuzlingen) was a Swiss psychiatrist and neurologist who came from a famous family of physicians; his father was founder of the Kreuzlingen Sanatorium, and he was uncle to Ludwig Binswanger (1881–1966) who was a major figure in the existential psychology movement. He was brother-in-law to physiotherapist Heinrich Averbeck (1844–1889). Other notable family members include his son-in-law Hans-Constantin Paulssen (1892-1984), who was the first president of the BDA (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände) (Confederation of German Employers' Associations).
Biography
Otto studied medicine at Heidelberg, Strasbourg and Zurich, and beginning in 1877, worked under Ludwig Meyer (1827–1900) in the psychiatric clinic at the University of Göttingen.[https://books.google.com/books?id=IWkhAAAAQBAJ&dq=Binswanger+%22Ludwig+Meyer%22+Gottingen&pg=PA138 Deutschsprachige Neurologen und Psychiater] by Alma Kreuter He was later associated with the pathological institute in Breslau, and in 1880 was appointed chief physician under Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833–1890) in the psychiatric and neurological clinic at Charité Hospital in Berlin. From 1882 until 1919, he was a professor and director of psychology at the University of Jena. At Jena he worked with several young neurologists that included Theodor Ziehen (1862–1950), Oskar Vogt (1870–1959), Korbinian Brodmann (1868–1918), and Hans Berger (1873–1941).[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=175452 Psychiatry Online] (biography) In 1911 he attained the title of rector at the university.[http://www.historische-kommission-muenchen-editionen.de/rektoratsreden/anzeige/index.php?type=universitaet&id=146 Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena] Rector's speeches of the 19th and 20th century - Online Bibliography
Binswanger wrote over 100 publications, most notably on epilepsy, neurasthenia and hysteria. Die Pathologie und Therapie der Neurasthenie (1896) was his major work on neurasthenia. His 1899 textbook on epilepsy (Die Epilepsie) became a standard in the profession.[https://books.google.com/books?id=y-k3nQEACAAJ Google Books] – Die Epilepsie In his histopathological research he sought to explain similarities and differences between progressive paralysis and other types of organic brain disease.[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=175452 American Journal of Psychiatry]
With neurologist Ernst Siemerling (1857-1931), he was co-author of an influential textbook on psychiatry titled Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie (1904).[https://books.google.com/books?id=mpA0AQAAMAAJ Google Books] – Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie
In 1894 he described a condition he called "encephalitis subcorticalis chronica progressiva", which would later go by the name of "Binswanger's disease".{{cite journal |last1=OLSZEWSKI |first1=J |title=Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy. Review of the literature on the so-called Binswanger's disease and presentation of two cases. |journal=World Neurology |date=May 1962 |volume=3 |pages=359–75 |pmid=14481961}}{{cite book |last1=van der Knaap |first1=MS |last2=Valk |first2=J |title=Magnetic resonance of myelin, myelination, and myelin disorders |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-662-03078-3 |edition=2nd |year=1995 |chapter=Subcortical Arteriosclerotic Encephalopathy |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-03078-3_65}} This disease is defined as subcortical dementia characterized by loss of memory and intellectual faculties. One of his more famous patients was German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, others were the writers (later on) Hans Fallada and Johannes R. Becher.[http://www.psychiatrie.uniklinikum-jena.de/Startseite/Geschichte.html Department of Uniklinikum Jena] Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie[http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/autumn13/van-nimmen-on-henry-van-de-velde-year-in-germany-and-belgium-part-one Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide] Henry van de Velde Year in Germany and Belgium: Part One
References
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