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Crime, Clairvoyance and the Weimar PoliceAuthor(s): Heather Wolffram
Source: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Oct., 2009), pp. 581-601Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40542978Accessed: 14-12-2015 20:38 UTC
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Journal
f
Contemporary istory opyright
©
2009 SAGE
Publications,
os
Angeles,
London,
New
Delhi,
Singapore
and
Washington
DC,
Vol
44(4),
581-601. ISSN 0022-0094.
DOI:
1
.1
177/0022009409339436
HeatherWolfram
Crime,
Clairvoyance
and the Weimar
Police
Abstract
DuringheWeimar ears,Germany'solice xperimentedith widerange
ofnew
echnologies
ndforensic
echniques. mong
hemore nusual
f
hese
was so-called
riminal
elepathy
Kriminaltelepathie):
he
practice
f
using
telepath
r
clairvoyant
o shed
ight
n unsolvedrimes.
lacing
he
mergence
of he
riminal
elepath
n
the ontext
f
nterwarrime nd
occultism,
ndthe
police
nterest
n
hese ccult
ractitioners
n
he ontextf
professionalization,
this rticle
maintainshat heWeimar
olice's
rief lirtation
ith
heoccult
was consistent
ith,
atherhan
ntagonistic
o,
heir ffortso
professionalize
through
cience.
his rticle lso
explores ontemporaryritiques
f his
rac-
tice,
rguing
hat he
bitter
olemicsgainst
riminal
elepathyy
men uch s
Albert
ellwig
ndAlbertMoll resultedrom heir elief hat he ctivitiesf
clairvoyants
ndangered
he laims f
criminalists,
urists
nd
psychiatrists
o
expertise
n
thenascent ields
f
criminology
nd
criminalistics.
Keywords:
rime,
riminology,ermany,ypnosis,
ccultism,
olice
In
October
921,
the
periodical
erman orester
Deutscher örster)
a
publication
ormally
edicated o matters
ertaining
o
forestry
featured
a peculiarrticlenvolving urdernd theoccult. tsauthor, Berlin-based
detective
amed
usdorf,
escribed
is
nvestigation
nto
hemurderf forest
warden
ear he mall axontown
f
Mügeln
n
May
1921. WhileBusdorfs
inquiry
ad
begun
n
predictable
ashion ith is
eam
onducting
search f
thehomes f ocal
poachers,
t tooka
surprising
urn fter he ase faltered
for ackof evidence.
lthough
he alibre
f
themurder
eapon,
7.65mm
pistol,
was
ascertained,
usdorf nd his teamwereunable o locateeither
trace
vidence,
uch
s fibres nd
footprints,
r
witnesses,
espite
he
offer
of a 3000-Mark
eward.1rustrated
y
thefailure f these tandard orensic
and
investigatory
easures,
he
prosecuting
ttorney
entword
to
Leipzig
summoninguiseDiederich, clairvoyant,ndMarieHessel,her ister nd
The researchfor and
writing
f this articlewere made
possible through
he Frances P. Bolton
Fellowship rovided
y
the
Parapsychology
oundation,
New
York,
nd the
upport
f the
Faculty
of Arts nd Social
Sciences t theNational
University
f
Singapore.
1 Heinrich
Hornung,
Die forensische
edeutung
es Hellsehens nd der
Gedankenübertragung',
Archiv
ür
Kriminologie
6
(1924),
262.
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582
Journal
f
ContemporaryHistory
ol 44
No
4
hypnotist,ho hadostensiblynjoyeduccessnsimilarases.The detective
and the
prosecutingttorney
eldfour
ittings
ith he isters
n
which he
clairvoyant
iederich
rovided
detailed
escription
f the
circumstances
surrounding
he
murder,
art
of the
perpetrator's
ame,
he ocation f his
house,
nformationbouthis
accomplice
nd thewhereabouts
f themurder
weapon.2
n
investigation
f hese
laims,
tems
elonging
o thevictim
nd a
pistol
fthe ame alibre s themurder
eapon
were ound
n
the
possession
oftwo
poachers
matching
he
lairvoyant's
escription.
othmenwere
aken
into
ustody
o await rial
n
thedistrictourt.3
Busdorf
s
tale,
with tsmixturef
crime,
lairvoyance
nd modern
olicing
techniques,as byno meansuniqueduringheWeimar epublic. o-called
criminal
elepathsKriminaltelepathen)
those ndividuals hose
lairvoy-
ant
powers utatively
llowed hem
nsight
ntocriminal
cts
-
began
to
appear
n
Germanyollowing
918,
seemingly aterializing
rom he
ocial,
economic nd
political
ubble eft
n
thewake of thewar and
revolution.4
While he
magnetic
omnambulesnd
spiritualist
ediums f the
nineteenth
century
ad on occasion itillatedheir
udiences
ith he
details f criminal
acts,
t was notuntil he nterwar
eriod
hat ccultists
egan
o
specialize
n
detectionnd that he uthorities
egan
o takemore han
punitive
nterest
in
this nd
other
ccult
ractices.5
t
is
clear,
ot
only
from rticles
n
con-
temporaryewspapersndperiodicalsuch s theGerman orester,ut lso
from herecords f
policedepartmentshroughout
russia
nd a number f
otherGerman
tates,
hat hese
newly merged
ccult riminalists'
estered
the
police, ombarding
hemwith nsolicitednformationnd offers
f
help.
In
a 1921 doublemurderase
n
Heidelberg,
or
xample,
he
police
nd the
prosecuting
ttorney
eceived o
many
ffers
f
occult ssistance
hat
hey
feared
mportant
vidence ould
disappear
n
the ime
pent ollowing
hem
2 Ibid.,263.
3
Ibid.,
266.
4
Criminal
telepathy ppears
to have been a
largely
German
phenomenon.
n
England,
for
example,
s the
Society
or
Psychical
Research old the German
urist
Albert
Hellwig,
therewere
no well-attestedases of criminal
elepathy.
ee Letter rom he
Society
or
Psychical
Research o
Albert
Hellwig,
18
July
924,
Nachlaß Albert
Hellwig
10/4Hellsehen
llgemein.Korrespondenz,
1919-1929,
Institut
ür
Grenzgebiete
er
Psychologie
nd
Psychohygiene
hereafter
GPP).
The
English sychical
esearcher
arry
Price
noted,however,
hat herewere
smallnumber f
English
dowserswho used their alents o locate bodies and stolen
goods:
see
Harry
Price,
Fifty
ears
of
Psychical
Research:
A
Critical
urvey
London
1939),
222.
In
England,
he
problem ppears
to
have been the retention f old witchcraft
aws,
which
prevented
ccultists rom
etting p
in
busi-
ness
n
the manner
hey
did
in
Germany.
lexandraLembert's
work,however,
as demonstrated
that
lairvoyant
etectives id feature
uiteprominently
n
English
etective iction. ee Alexandra
Lembert,
"Thoughts
are
Things": Magical
Objects, Objective
Magic
and Sax Rohmer's The
Dream Detective
1920)',
in
Elmar Schenkel nd StefanWelz
(eds),
Magical
Objects:
Things
nd
Beyond
Berlin 007),
127-44.
5
On the
lairvoyance
f
magnetic
omnambulistsnd
spiritualist
ediums,
ee Adam
Crabtree,
FromMesmer o Freud:
Magnetic leep
and theRoots
of Psychological
Healing
New
Haven, CT,
andLondon
993),172-8,
13-29.
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the Weimar olice
583
up.6While he raditionalesponsef thepolice osuchoccult hicaneryad
been o
prosecute
ts
practitioners
or raud
r,
n
the outhern
tates,
nclud-
ing
Baden,
avaria
nd
Hesse,
o
charge
hemwith
harlatanry
Gaukelei),
he
interwar
eriod
witnessed
strange
ollision fdetection
nd
the
ccultwhich
led
police
orces
n
everal ermantates o
carry
ut estswith
lairvoyants
n
an efforto establish
heir
fficacy
n
thenascent
ield
f
forensics.7
lthough
by
ny
tatistical
easure heuse of criminal
elepaths y
theWeimar
olice
was
nsignificant,
he ierce
ritiques
f
ts nclusion
n
the riminalist's
rsenal
suggest
hat ccult
detection
omplicated
nd
competed
ith he claims f
otherso
epistemic
uthority
nd
professionalompetency
n
the rea
of
rime
and detection.hestudy fthis trangehenomenon,herefore,ightffer
thehistorian new
perspective
n
the
epistemological
nd
methodological
tensions
urrounding
he
professionalization
f
policing
nd
allied fields
n
interwar
ermany.
Busdorfs
article,
ike hose
riefly
entioned
yHis-Huey
iang
n
hiswork
on the
Berlin
olice uring
heWeimar
epublic
nd
by
Patrick
Wagner
n
his
history
f theGerman riminal
olice
n
the nterwarnd
National ocialist
eras,
rovides
n
intriguinglimpse
ftheWeimar
olice's
lirtationith he
occult nd
poses
a number f
nterestinguestions.
What,
or
nstance,
as
itthat riminal
elepathsctually
id?What etof
circumstances
recipitatedtheir
mergence
ollowing
hefirst orldwar?How shouldwe
interpret
he
use
of hese ccult
ractitionersy
he
police?
And
why
idcertain
ontempo-
rary
ritics ecome o
enraged
oth
by
he ctivities
fcriminal
elepaths
nd
their
ortrayal
n
the
press?
A
small
group
f historians
orking
n thehis-
tory
fcrime nd
policing
nd the
history
foccultism
n
theGerman
ontext
have
gone
ome
way
owards
ddressing
hese
uestions. iang,
or
xample,
cites he
repeated ttempts
f
theBerlin
olice
o
employ
riminal
elepaths
andassess heir orensic
tility
s
evidence
f
heforce's esire o
keep
breast
of
changing
astes,
ashionsnd
technologies.8
hat
Liang
points
o
here
re
not nly he ffortsf heBerlinolice oforgeetterelations ith hepublic
through
reater
olerance
nd
n
some
asesutilizationf
popular
ulture,
ut
also
their
doption
f he atest
echniques
nd
technologies,ncludingutative
occult
etection,
s
a
markerf
ncreasingrofessionalism.9
imilarly,
agner
connectshe
police
nterest
n
criminal
elepathy
ith
heuse of
nascent ech-
6
Angelika
Brieschke,
'Ein so
klägliches
Bild
ist
von
keinem
Kriminaltelepathen
ekannt",
Ein
Hellseher-Prozess
n
Württemberg
n
den 1920er
Jahren',
unpublished
MPhil
dissertation,
University
f
Tübingen,
001,
61.
7
In
some German
tates,
most
notably
Bavaria,
Baden and
Hesse,
occultists
aced
prosecution
under
o-called
Gaukelei
(charlatanry)
aws,
which stated
that
anyone
who
accepted money
or
gifts
or ccultservices ould be fined r
imprisoned.
n other
tates,
ncluding
russia,
ccultists
tendedto be
charged
with
fraud,
conviction
for
which
depended
on
proving
he
defendant's
bad faith. ee
Albert
Hellwig,
Hellsehen ls strafbare
aukelei',
Archiv
ür trafrecht
1
(1926),
125.
8
His-Huey
Liang,
'The Berlin Police and the
Weimar
Republic', Journal
of
Contemporary
History
(4) (1969),
160.
9
Ibid.,
159-61.
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584
Journal
f
ContemporaryHistory
ol 44
No
4
nologies. e argues or he xistencef deep-seatedmbivalencen thepart
of
many
Weimar
riminalists
bout he ransitionrom
raditional
olice
work,
with tsreliance n
witnesses,
o those
newforms
f
detectionnd dentifica-
tion
dependent
n arcane orensic ethods.10
agner
maintainshat
nterest
in
and debate ver riminal
elepathy
as a
strange
xcrescencefthis
ncer-
tainty
bout cientific ethodsf dentification.11
n
this
way,
hework
fboth
Liang
nd
Wagneruggests
hat hebrief ascinationf heWeimar
olice
with
criminal
elepathy ight
e bestunderstood
n
the ontext f
their
ursuit
f
professional
tatus
hrough
oth
echnological
nd theoreticalnnovation.
Those cholars ith n interest
n
the
history
f German
ccultism,
field
thathasonly ecentlyscapedts arly reoccupationith he ccult oots f
nazism o reveal he
ultural,
olitical
nd ocial
plasticity
f hemodern ccult
movement,
ave tudiedhe
uestions osedby
riminal
elepathy
n
omewhat
more
depth
hanhistoriansf crime nd
policing.12ngelika
rieschke,
or
example,
n
her
nalysis
f the1924-6 trial f the
private
etectiveriedrich
Gern
n
Württembergegards
he
mergence
fcriminal
elepathy
n
nterwar
Germany
s the esult f collision etweenwo
ontemporary
iscourses:
hat
which
rgued
or he cientifictatus foccultismndthatwhich
romoted
he
young iscipline
f
criminology.13riminology,
he
maintains,
as still
pen
to new nd
cientificallynproven
ethods
uring
he
arly
wentieth
entury;pragmatismlaying decisive olein determininghich echniques ere
adopted
nd maintained.
n
this
ontext,
rieschke
rgues,many
nnovations
in
police
cience,
ncludingingerprinting
nd blood
group
nalysis,
eemed s
mysterious
s criminal
elepathy
hen
hey
were irstntroduced.14oroccult-
ists,
s Brieschke
hows,
his
pragmatism
nabled rhetorical
trategy
hat
likened he riminal
elepath
o the
policedog.
While ccultistsonceded hat
themechanism
hrough
hich riminal
elepathsained nsight
ntounsolved
10 Patrick
Wagner,Volksgemeinschaft
hne
Verbrecher.
onzeptionen
nd Praxis der
Kriminalpolizei
n
der eitderWeimarer
epublik
nd
des
Nationalsozialismus
Hamburg
996),
101-2.
11
Ibid.,
02.
12
Thosehistorians ho took n interest
n
German ccultism
uring
he
1950s,
1960s and
1970sfocused n the ntellectualndmaterialinks etween
riosophy,
form frace ccultism
developed
n
Austria
y
LanzvonLiebenfelsndGuido on
List,
nd henascent SDAP.
ee,
or
example, eorge
.
Mosse,
The
Mystical rigins
fNational
ocialism',
ournal
f
the
History
of
deas
22
(1961), 81-96;
Wilhelm
aim,
Der
Mann,
erHitler
ie
deen
gab.Jörg
anz
von
Liebenfels,
rdedn
Vienna 994).
During
he
1980s,however,
icolasGoodrick-Clarke's
tudy
ofthe ccult oots fnazism emonstratedow enuous hese inkswere: ee NicolasGoodrick-
Clarke,
he OccultRoots
f
Nazism.
ecret
ryan
ults nd their
nfluence
n
Nazi
Ideology.
The
Ariosophistsf
Austria nd
Germany,
890-1935
New
York
1985).
This reassessment
allowed new
eneration
fhistoriansoconsider ermanccultism ore
roadly
nd o
explore
itssocial, ultural ndpolitical lasticity.ee,for xample, iethardawicki, ebenmitden
Toten:
Geisterglauben
nd
die
Entstehung
es
Spiritismus
n
Deutschland,
770-1900
Munich
2002);
Corinna
reitel,
Science
or
he oul:Occultismnd
theGenesis
f
he
German odern
(Baltimore
nd
London
004);
Priska
ytlik,
kkultismusndmoderne: in
kulturhistorisches
Phänomen
nd
eine
edeutungür
ieLiteratur
m
1900
Munich 005).
13
Brieschke,
Klägliches
ild',
p.
cit.,
9.
14
Ibid.,
0.
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Wolfram:
Crime,
lairvoyance
nd the
Weimar olice
585
crimes asunclear,hey rgued hat he ame ouldbe said for he bilityf
police
ogs
o follow
cent
rails. his
gnorance,
ccultists
ere
uick
o
point
out,
did
not exclude
olice
dogs
from he
nvestigatoryrocess
nd
neither
should
t
disqualify
he
riminal
elepath.15
rieschke's
rgument,
herefore,
s
that,
n
the
bsence f a
definitive
cientifictatement
n the ranscendental
abilities f
thehuman
mind,
twas
reasonable ot
only
or
ccultists,
ut
lso
for
riminologists,
urists, olice
officersnd
psychologists
o consider he
possible
eality
nd
utility
fcriminal
elepathy.16
Corinna
Treitel,
hose recent
istory
f German
ccultism as demon-
strated
he
flexibility
f occult
elief nd
practice
yhighlighting
ts
multiple
links o modernistndprogressiveulture s well s socialconservatismnd
reactionaryolitics,
as treated
riminal
elepathy
s an occultdouble
of
applied
ciences
uch s
criminology
nd
psychology.17
ike
Brieschke,
he
has
argued
hat
uring
he nterwar
eriod
henew
forensicerrain ad no
clearly
established
oundaries,
ccreditation
rocedures
r
corporate
dentity,
nd
that
ublic
ressure
n the
olice
o solve
rimes
y ny
means
hatworkeded
to a
pragmatism
hat
riefly
nabled riminal
elepathy
nd modern
methods
ofdetection
o coexist.18
reitellso
points
o the
flipside
f
this
trangeegal-
occult
ymbiosis,
hich aw
many
riminal
elepaths
rosecuted
orfraud.
Such
rials,
he
rgues,
owever,
ften idmore o
promote
riminal
elepathy
than
hey
idto dissuadehepolice nd thepublic romtsuse.19
The
picture
hich
merges
rom he
historiography
f crime nd
policing,
as
well s that f
modern
ccultism,
s that
ollowing
hefirst orldwar
n
Germany
mbivalence,
cientific
ncertainty,ragmatism
nd the ack
of
rigid
professional
r
disciplinary
oundaries
ithin he
fields f
criminology
nd
forensics
emporarily
reated
space
n
which riminal
elepathy
ouldbe seri-
ously
onsidered
ypolice,
riminologists
nd
urists.
n
this rticle intend o
build n
this
nalysis, roviding
brief
escription
f criminal
elepathy
nd
the ircumstances
nder hich t
merged
n
order o consider
he seof rimi-
naltelepathsy heWeimarolice. will rgueess, sWagneroes, hat his
dalliance
ith he ccult
ignalled
cientific
ncertainty
nd mbivalence
bout
technology
y
Weimar
riminalists,
nd
more hat heuse of
clairvoyantsy
theGerman
olice
ormed
art
f heir
mbrace fnew
echnologies
nd
cien-
tific
echniques
n
pursuit
f
professional
tatus.20
n
the
arly ostwar
ears,
maintain,
he cientific
tatus f
clairvoyance
nd
telepathy
emained
paque;
in
fact t was
by
no means lear hat ccult
nd scientific
nowledge
ould
prove
rreconcilable.s Brieschke
nd Treitel ave
hown,
ragmatism
ften
15
Ibid.,
56-8.
16
Ibid.,
60.
17
Treitel,
cience
for
he
Soul,
op.
cit.,
132-40.
18
Ibid., 144-6,
154.
19
Ibid.,
148-9.
20 On the Weimar
police's adoption
of the latest
technology,
ee Richard
Bessel,
Policing,
Professionalisation
nd Politics
n Weimar
Germany',
n
Clive
Emsley
nd
Barbara
Weinberger
(eds),
Policing
Western
urope.
Politics,
Professionalism,
nd Public
Order,
1850-1940
(New
York
1991),
196.
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586
Journal
f
ContemporaryHistory
ol
44
No
4
dictatedheuseof forensicechniquesndtechnologieshathad not under-
gone
cientific
erification,
utwhich
ppeared
o work.
n
this
ontext,
hen,
the
utilization
f criminal
elepathy
as consistent
ith,
ather
han
ntago-
nistic o the Weimar
olice's
ffortst
professionalizationhrough
cience.
Indeed,
riminalists'ventual ismissal foccultisms a forensicool
appears
to have been result f
clairvoyance's
ack of
utility
ather
han ts ack of
scientificerification.
t was this cientific
eficit,owever,
n which ontem-
porary
ritics
ocused,
ambasting
ot
only
heuse of criminal
elepathy
nd
its
bedfellow,
ay
hypnosis,
ut lso
ts ensationalnd
naccurate
ortrayal
n
the
press.
uch
ritiques,
will
rgue,
were he ecourse fthose
rofessionals
whose laims oepistemicuthoritynthenascent ields fcriminologynd
forensics ere hreatened
y
criminal
elepaths.
he aim of
their verblown
discourse n the
dangers
f criminal
elepathy
as thus
o
make olidthose
professional
nd
disciplinary
oundaries
hat,
however
riefly,
ad
enabled
criminal
elepaths
o
claim
xpertise
n
and
authority
ver rime.
The term
criminal
elepathy'Kriminaltelepathie),
s
it came
o
be used
n
Germany uring
he
nterwar
eriod,
eferredo the
practice
f a
medium,
normally
nder he
guidance
f a
hypnotist,tilizing
heir
lairvoyantower
in
order o shed
ight
n an unsolved rime.
n
a state f
trance,
hemedium
was
asked
by
the
hypnotist
r
by
n audience o relatewhathe or she
could
seeofthematter ndernvestigation.hese ueriesended oresultna series
of
rance
peeches
n
which he
medium,
ften
ssuming
he ole fthe
victim,
perpetrator
r
witness,
escribed he circumstances
urrounding
he crime.
These
utterances
ypicallyrovided
mixturef
quite
pecific
nd
very ague
information,
ncludingmpressionistic
limpses
fthe
cene f
crime,
escrip-
tions f criminals'
ewellery
nd
clothing
nd the ocation f
hidden
odies
and
stolen
oods.
The
stage lairvoyant
alther
öpfner's
iscourse
n
the
experiences
f reluctant itness
n
a 1925 case
nvolving
he
desecrationf
corpse rovides good
example
f uch rance
utpourings:
What'sthat
you say?
A
woman on her
way.
hear beautiful
ells
ringing.
here re
graves.
A
cross,
monument,
n
angel
There a man. Mother
has
frightened
erself.
ou
need have no
fear.Mother
ays
so. You
know what the man looks like. You have known
for
long
time
already
nd shouldhave
ong ago reported
t He does
nothing
o
you.
You are 65
years
ld
. . .
You
are called
Vierwig, iehrig, ou
live on a
streetwith9
letters
after
pparent
tudy)
Görlitzer
treet,
t s a
big
man,
a
big
bastard,
he is no
longer
here.
Now
you
can
say
it,
he
carried
big
sack
in front f his
body
-
grey
uit he is
44,
39-50
years
old ...
-
hair
white n the
ide,
thendark
-
he was
in
Leipzig,
but did not
study
brown eather
hoes,
has a
gold
watch,
gold
tooth,
no
ring,
wide
fingernails.
is wifedoes not know.21
Höpfner'snsights,onveyed
o hisaudience
n
an
exaggeratedtage
whis-
per
whilehewasina
hypnotic
rance, ere
undoubtedly
ramatic,ut ome
criminal
elepaths
ook an evenmore
performativepproach
o theirwork.
These
lairvoyants
ed their
mployers
n
dramatichases
hrough
ity
treets
21
Auszug
aus den Akten
der Staatsanwaltschaft autzen
wegen Betruges
tA
III
10I8/25.
Kriminal-Postenb 650/25. Nachlaß Albert
Hellwig
10/4Hellsehen/Fall
Höpfner',
GPP.
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the
Weimar olice
587
insearch fmissing oodsorpersons,rowds fcurious nlookersollowing
in
their
ake.Thiswas the
tyle
f
clairvoyantnvestigation
avoured
y
the
medium
lsa
Günther-Gethers,
ho
n
a somnambulistictate aced
hrough
alleys
nd
tenements,
iming
nd
gesticulating
n
order o ndicatehe
ppear-
anceand
occupation
f the
riminalf whom hewas
in
pursuit.22
n
March
1923,
for
xample,
n entranced
ünther-Gethersalkedwith
losed
eyes
over
ladder,
ver
pile
of
scrap
metal nd
through
hree ifferenttreets
n
search f the
person
who had stolen lour
nd
sugar
rom raude la Chaux
ofTilsit.23
n
anotherase
n
Königsberg,
here he
police
had beenunable o
find he
erson
esponsible
or
tealing
hoes nd
aundry
rom hePreukschat
family,ünther-Gethersas asked o investigate.allingnto trancenthe
victims'
ome,
he retraced
hethief's
teps
until he reached
unker
treet,
where he
noise fthe rowd
who had
gathered
o watchherworkwoke
her
from er rance.
arly
henext
morning,
ithouthedistractionf he
rowd,
Günther-Gethers
epeated
er omnambulistic
nvestigation,
his ime
walking
to a house
n Polnischen
treet,
here he
grabbed
oldofthewomanwithin
and
declared er he hief.24
Other riminal
elepaths,
ncluding
he isters iederichnd
Hessel,
ended
to
prefer
more edate
pproach.
While
n
somecases
theymight
nsist
n
visiting
he cene
f
crime,
hey
were
ust
s
likely
o
prefer
he
quiet
of
the
séance oom,which acked hedistractionsf the
tage
r the treet.
sing
darkened
omestic
pace
uch
s a
parlour,
uch
lairvoyants
ed ff he
nergy
of
the
éance
ircle,
ften
sing
n
object
elonging
o thevictim s a means
of
accessing
nformation
bout he rime.
uring
usdorf's
nvestigation
nto
themurder
f he
Mügeln
orest
arden,
or
xample, sitting
as held
n
the
murdered an's
home
during
hich he
hypnotized
iederich escribedhe
victim's
ast moments.
lairvoyantlyccompanying
hedoomedforestern
his ast
patrol,
iederich
elayed
is
discovery
f two
bicycles
t a crossroad
andhisfirst
limpse
f he wo
middle-aged
en
whowouldmomentsater
ill
him.Turninger ttentiono the woperpetrators,hemedium hen elated
both heir onversation
nd their
anicked
ide o a
nearby illage
where
hey
hidone
oftheir
uns.25
While heirmethods
f
nvestigationay
have
differed,
uring
heWeimar
years
riminal
elepaths
f
every
lk
became mbroiled
n
cases
ranging
rom
petty
heft
o abduction nd murder. he
hypnotist
aul
Hildebrecht,
or
example,
sed
hismedium
n 1924
to advise ne FrauBartel f
Bernburg
hat
a
womannamedGrete öhland
ad
stolen er
gold
necklace. he
medium,
Hildebrecht's
ife,
escribedhe
hief,
oting
hat he
had
wrapped
heneck-
lace
n
paper
nd hidden
t
n
the utermost
ompartment
fher
handbag.26
n
22 Rudolf
ambert,
Der
Insterburger
rozeß
gegen
die
Hellseherinrau
Günther-Geffers',
Zeitschriftür arapsychologie
(4) (1929),
232-3.
23 Ibid.
24
Ibid.,
34.
25
Hornung,
Bedeutung',p.
cit.,
67.
26
Albert
Hellwig,
Okkultismus nd Verbrechen.ine
Einführung
n die kriminalis-
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the Weimar olice
589
cal turmoilhat lagued he arlyRepublic.33omplaintsffirstnd second
degree
murder
n
Berlin,
or
xample,
ad numbered46
n
1911,
but limbed
to 219
in
1922 and 637
in
1924.
4
National tatisticslso
reflectedhis
urge
in
violent
rime,
ith onvictionsor
remeditated
urdert 17
per
100,000
in
1911-13 and at
41
per
100,000
n
1920-4.35 olitical
rime,
n
particular
political
murder,
lso
grew apidly.
s the
Republic
tabilized,
owever,
o
too
did themurder
ate;but,
s historiansuch s Sace
Elder nd Peter ritzsche
have
pointed
ut,
he
endency
f theWeimar
ress
o sensationalize urder
caseswell
beyond
heir tatistical
ignificanceave
he
mpression
hat iolent
crime emainedife.36
PropertyrimenGermanylsoexperiencedignificantrowthntheyears
immediatelyollowing
he
war,
eaching
ts
peak
n
the
hyperinflationear
f
1923. Demobilizationnd inflationed to a
doubling
r
trebling
f theft
n
many
rban reas ndto the
pread
f rime o the
ountryside,
here oldiers
and
hungryity
wellerstole
food,
nimals nd
clothing.37
gain,
national
statisticshow this ncrease
learly.
n
the
period
1911-14
convictionsor
simple
heft ere
171,
serious heft
2,
robbery
.5,
fraud nd embezzlement
65 and
swindling
3
per
100,000.
n
the
period
920-4
convictionsor
imple
theft ere
23,
serious heft
4,
robbery
.9,
fraud nd
embezzlement7 and
swindling
2
per
1
00,000.
8
Organized
rime lso became
more
revalent,
s
urban
gangs Ringvereine)
obilized o orchestrateacketsn
prostitution,
pornography,ambling
nd
burglary.39
hile he
press,
opular
fiction nd
film
might
ave
given
he
mpression
hat he
Republic
was under
iegeby
a
host f murderersnd
gangsters,
t was
everyday
rimes uch
s
petty
heft,
as
confirmed
y
the
statistics,
hathad
made the mostdirect
mpact pon
ordinary
ermans;40
fter
ll,
their conomic
urvival as
largely ependent
on the etentionftheir
roperty
nd
possessions
uring
he
years
efore he
stabilizationftheMark.41
The
arge
umbersf
thefts,
s
well
s the
urge
n
nterpersonal
nd
politi-
calviolencehat ccompaniedhe ndofhostilitiesnGermany,tretchedhe
33
Bessel,
Policing,
rofessionalizationnd
Polities',
p
cit.,
93-4.
34 Statistisches
ahrbuch
er tadt
erlin, 923,
1924 and
1925,
uoted
n
Sace
Elder,Murder,
DenunciationndCriminal
olicing
n
Weimar
erlin',
ournalf
Contemporaryistory
1
2006),
412.
Richard essel lso
notes hat
onvictions
or
murder
uring
he
arly
920s
were
oughly
twice hose f
he
years
mmediatelyreceding
hewar:
Bessel,
Policing,
rofessionalizationnd
Polities',
p.
cit.,
94.
35 EricA.
Johnson,
rbanization
nd Crime:
ermany,
871-1914
New
York
995),
127.
36 Sace
Elder,
Murder cenes: riminal iolence
n
thePublic
Culture nd
Private ivesof
Weimar
erlin',
npublished
hD
dissertation,
niversity
f
llinois,
rbana-Champaign,
002,
4,
25;
Peter
ritzsche,
eading
erlin 900
Cambridge,
A,
nd London
996),
159.
37 Richard essel,
ermanyfter
he irstWorldWarOxford 993), 44-5.
38
Johnson,
rbanization,
p.
cit.,
36.
39 Anton
aes,
M
(London 000),
50-1.
40 Sara
Hall,
Open
Your
yes
ublic
rdering
ndthe
Policing
aze',
Modernism/Modernity
15(2)
2008),277-8;
Sara
Hall,
Trading
laces:Dr.
Mabuse nd thePleasure f Role
Play',
The
German
uarterly
6(4) 2003),
381-97.
41
Elder,Murder,
enunciation',
p.
cit.,
06.
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590
Journal
f
ContemporaryHistory
ol
44
No
4
Weimar oliceto capacity.n the mmediateostwar eriod hedepletion,
disorganization
nd
underfunding
f aw enforcement
n
many arts
f the
Republic
reated he
mpression
f
police mpotence
n
theface f this arce-
nous
onslaught.42
n
this
ontext,
here
hevictims f
crime,
articularly
f
theft,
elieved
hey
were
unlikely
o achieve
satisfactory
utcome
hrough
a
police nvestigation,
utwhere
tolen tems
might lay significant
ole
n
economic
urvival,
here
as an
opportunity
or hosewith hewherewithalo
fill
hedemand otmet
by
the
police.
Thosecriminal
elepaths
ho took
up
this
hallenge
ere
not,
s
reports
n
the
pressmight
ave
uggested,rima-
rily
r even
frequently
nvolved
n
murder
ases; ndeed,
hey
were
nly ery
occasionallynvolvednpolice nvestigationst all.Thebulk f heir usiness,
which erived
rom hosemembersf he
ublic
whohad
failed o achieve at-
isfaction
hrough
n official
nvestigation
r had
avoided he
police ltogether,
involved rimes
gainst roperty;
ainly
he heft f tems uch s
jewellery,
bicycles
nd cash.While mall
hings
n
themselves,
uch temswere ndoubt-
edly mportant
s a bulwark
gainst
conomic uin
uring
he
arly
920s.
Like their
ustomers,
hose
people
who became riminal
elepaths
ur-
ing
the
Weimar
eriod
were
frequently
otivated
y
financial
esperation.
The criminal
elepath
ünther-Geffers,
or
xample,
s herdefence ounsel
Richard
Winterbergxplained uring
er1927 trial or
raud,
first
egan
he
professionalvaluationfher aranormalbilitiess a result f lossof ssets
during
he nflation'.43er
success s a criminal
elepath,
owever,
as such
that hecontinuedo
pursue
his
rofession
ven fter he tabilization
fthe
Mark.This
was a
pattern
hatwas
repeated
n
the ife tories f
a
significant
number
f occult
ractitioners,ncluding
athilde
Gern,
rik-Jan
anussen
and
Erich
Möckel,
whoall usedoccultism
o some xtents a means f
scap-
ingpoverty.
n
so
doing,
owever,
hese
avvy
ccultists erenot
only
aking
advantage
f he
pportunities
ffered
y
nterwar
rime,
conomic
nstability
and the ackof
confidence
n
Germany's
ver-taxed
olice
forces,
ut lso of
the ontemporaryascinationith he ccult.
The modern
ccultmovement
merged
n
Germany,
s
elsewhere,
uring
themid-nineteenth
entury, anifesting
ot
only
n
the
revival f occult ci-
ences,
uch s
astrology,almistry
nd
Rosicrucianism,
ut lso
in
thebirth
of new forms
f occult
knowledge
nd
practice,
ncludingpiritualism
nd
Theosophy.44
hile
historians ave
traditionally
egarded
his
movements
evidence f a
late-nineteenth-century
flight
rom eason'
r crisis f
faith',
often
inking
t
with
olitical
onservatismnd
racism,
more ecent ork
n
several ational ontexts
as
suggested
hat he attraction
f occultism or
groups
rom cross he
social and
political pectrum
as
its
flexibility
nd
42
Elder,
Murder
cenes',
p.
cit.,
3.
43 Richard
Winterberg,
Der
nsterburgerellseherprozeß',
eitschrift
ür
arapsychologie
(7)
(1928),
17.
44 On themodem ccult
movement
ee,
for
xample,
ames
Webb,
he Occult
Underground
(La Salle,
L, 1974);
James
Webb,
heOccult stablishment
La Salle,
L, 1976).
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the Weimar olice
59
1
practicalityn the face of the ncreasingomplexityfmodern ife.45his
malleability
nd
pragmatism
as
apparent
n
the
ncrease
n
occult
practice
that ccurred
n
Germanyollowing
he irst orld
war,
t
which ime t erved
to maintain onnections ith he war
dead,
predict
conomic,
ocial and
political
vents nd
provide
vehicle or
hose
piritual
nd moral
beliefs o
longer
ustainable
ithin
raditionalrameworks.
ay
Winternd
others ave
linked his
arly wentieth-centuryurge
n
occultism,
articularlypiritualism,
to
practices
f
memorializationnd
mourning
n
thewake of the
Great
War,
but here re other
xplanations
or hisOccultwave'.46
reitel,
or
xample,
argues
hat he
pre-war
ure f occultism ecame ven
more
ompelling
fter
1918 as traditionalources fauthority,ostparticularlyhe church nd
the
state,
were alled
nto
question y
Germany's
efeat nd the
turbulent
transition
o
democracy.47
Whateverheultimateause of this
occultwave'
-
probably complex
combinationf mass
grief,
conomic
eprivation
nd
perceived
moral nd
philosophical
ecline there
merged
n
nterwar
ermany
thriving
arket
for
ccult
ervices,
hichwas met
y
both
easoned ccultistsndthose
whose
precarious
inancialituation
ad edthem o
occultisms a means f
urvival.
Muchofwhatwas on offer
n
this ccult
marketplace
as
familiar;
lairvoy-
ant
eadings
ndfaith
ealing,
or
nstance,
ere
nothing
ew,
ut ome ccult
practitionersave hese ervices modernwist,making se,for xample,f
themassmedia
nd
the
ncreasingly
fficient
ostal
ervice
o
expand
heir
clientele. ther
ccultists,
aking
dvantage
f the
contemporary
elief hat
science nd rational
lanning
ould solve
pressing
ocial
ssues,
ound hat
there as
profit
o be made
n
creating
ccult
lternativeso thenew
pplied
sciences. ccult
raphology,
or
xample, ompeted
ith cientific
raphology
in
the ield f
pplied sychology,
hile
owsing
fferedn alternative
o more
traditional eans f
ocating
ater nd minerals
n
the
reas of
engineering
andtown
lanning.48
market or heseoccult
oubles' xisted
mong
mem-
bers f thepublic s well as among hosepsychologists,octors,ngineers,
lawyers
nd architects
ho
played
central olewithin
henew
applied
ci-
ences. he nterestfboth
roups
n
these
orderciencesan be
ocated
n
the
scientificnd
popular
ascinationith he
ccult,
pragmatic
ttitudeowards
new nd
unprovenechnologies
nd
techniques,
nd the
nchoate
isciplinary
boundaries
f the
nascent
pplied
ciences,
hich
nabled he
expression
f
45 For lder istories hich tilize he
flight
rom eason' ndthe crisis f
faith'
nalyses,
ee,
for
xample,
anet
ppenheim,
he
OtherWorld:
piritualism
nd
Psychical
esearchn
England,
1850-1914
Cambridge
985);
FrankM.
Turner,
etweencience
nd
Religion:
heReaction o
Scientific
aturalismn Late Victorian
ngland
New
Haven,CT,
and
London
974).
Formore
recent ork hatmphasizeshe eculiarlyodernature foccultismnthenineteenthnd arly
twentieth
enturies,
eeAlex
Owen,
he
Place
f
Enchantment:ritish
ccultismnd theCulture
of
he
Modern
Chicago
ndLondon
004);
Treitel,
cience
or
he
oul,
p.
cit.
46
Jay
Winter,
ites
fMemory,
ites
f
Mourning:
heGreatWar n
European
ultural
istory
(Cambridge
995).
47
Treitel,
cience
or
he
oul,
p.
cit.,
94.
48
Ibid.,
37-9,
150-4.
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Wolffram:
Crime,
Clairvoyance
nd
the Weimar Police
593
ingphysicalvidence.55etween919 and1927the riminalolice nBerlin,
who cted s a
model or heir
olleagues
n
other
major
ities,
lso ntroduced
a
range
f
newforensic
echniques,ncludingingerprinting
nd ballistic
ests,
innovationshat
necessitatedhe
foundationf an institute
or
olice
cience
in
Charlottenburg.56
hese
echniques,long
with
riminal
lbums,
ertillon
measurements,
rime
cene
photography
nd chemical
nalysis,
whichhad
been
ntroducedt
the turn f
the
century,
emonstrated
he
eagerness
f
thecriminal
olice
o
makedetection
s scientifics
possible.57
een to
try
anything
hat
might
rove
seful
n
their
ursuit
f
criminals,
he
Kripo
lso
adopted
methods erived
rom henew ocial
nd
applied
ciences,
ncluding
criminalsychology,ociologyndgraphology.he use of such heoriesnd
techniques,
s
well s the
ncorporation
f
echnological
dvances,
as nstru-
mental o the
Kripo's
laim
o be a
professional
rime-fightinggency.
ndeed,
familiarity
ith
olice
cience nd
criminology
ere
precondition
or areer
advancement.58
Therewere
everal easons
or his
mphasis
n science nd
technology
s a
means
nd
measure f
professionalization.
learly,
heWeimar
olice
needed
to
invest
n
communication
echnology,eaponry
nd
transportation
f
they
were o maintain
rder
n an
increasingly
echnologicalociety.59
hey
lso
needed
o rationalize
nd bureaucratize
heir
work nd
organization
n
order
toremain fficient.nthisvein, fforts eremadeto centralizehecriminal
police
on a
national asis.
Although
his
movewas
ultimately
locked
by
the
tates,
central
ingerprint
ecord
was established
n
Berlin nd
missing
persons
ases
began
o
be
organized
rom resden.60
mphasis
n
profession-
alism,
articularly
s
represented
y
scientificnd technical
now-how,
as
also a
consequence
f that
chool f
criminologicalhought
hich ttributed
thebulk
f serious rime
o the
Berufsvebrecher
the
habitual
r
professional
criminal).61
n
order
o
gain
n
advantage
ver his ften
echnicallyavvy pe-
ciesof
riminal,
he
police
ought
ot
only
o
specialize
ccording
o themost
commonypes fcrimes, ut lso to mobilize ewsystemsf dentification,
including ingerprinting,
o
capture
heserecidivists.62
inally,
he desire o
incorporate
cience nd
technology
nto
olice
nvestigations
as,
ccording
o
historians,
ncluding
ace
Elder,
product
f a
deep-seated
istrust
f human
55
Elder,
Murder
Scenes',
op.
cit.,
73.
56
Liang,
BerlinPolice
Force,
op.
cit.,
123.
57
Wagner,Volksgemeinschaft,
p.
cit.,
97-8.
58
Liang,
Berlin
Police
Force,
op.
cit.,
128.
59
Elder,
Murder
Scenes',
op.
cit.,
69.
60
Bessel,
Policing,
rofessionalizationnd
Polities',
p.
cit.,
193.
61
The idea of
the
Berufsvebrecher
the
habitual or
professional
riminal)
was
popularized
by
RobertHeindlin
1926,
but was evident n some form
mong police
and
criminologists
rom he
late
nineteenth
entury.
n
the Weimar
police's
utilization
f this
concept,
ee Herbert
Reinke,
'Robert Heindl's
Berufsvebrecher:
olice
Perceptions
f Crime and Criminals
and Structures
of Crime
Control
n
Germany uring
he FirstHalf
of the Twentieth
entury',
n
Amy
Gilman
Srebnick
nd René
Levy
eds),
Crime
nd Culture:
An
Historical
erspective
London
2005), 50-3;
Wagner,Volksgemeinschaft,
p.
cit.,
20-5.
62
Wagner,
Volksgemeinschaft,p.
cit.,
80.
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594
Journal
f
Contemporary
History
ol
44
No
4
sensorybservationndmemory.63lthoughWagner assuggestedmbiva-
lence
mong nvestigators
bout
newforensic
echnology,
eimar
riminalists
and criminal
sychologists
eem o have been
equally
mbivalent
boutthe
utility
f witnesses.
hese
xperts
tressedhe
vagaries
f witness ecall
nd
observation,
hich
were
hought
o be
adversely
ffected
ygender,
lass nd
nationality.64
ountless
ourswere
wasted,
hey omplained,
ollowingp
the
tips
nd
statements
f
people
whowerenot
apable
f
distinguishing
etween
observationnd
imagination.
or
many olicemen,
hen,
hysical
vidence
collected
ia forensics
as more
eliable ndmore
aluable han uman bser-
vation, ut,
s
Wagner
as
pointed
ut,
he
potential
fthese ew
echniques
andtechnologiesas not lways ealizedndaily se.65
It was
in
this
ontext, hen,
n
which
echnological
nd
methodological
advance
elped
orm hebasis
for
rofessionalization,
ut mbivalencexisted
about the
utility
f bothforensics
nd witness
tatements,
hat
Germany's
criminal
olice
ook n nterest
n
the laims f
lairvoyants,
uch s the
isters
Diederichnd
Hessel.66
lthough
riminal
elepathy
acked cientificerifica-
tion,
ragmatism
ictated hat
his
echniquemight
e used until
t
proved
either
nhelpful
r
definitively
nscientific.
requently
ompared
with he
olfactoryowers
f the
policedog,
new
applied
ciences
uch s
graphology
and
modern
echnologies
ike he
wireless
elegraph,
t eemed
ntirelyossible
inthe
arly
Weimareriod hat lairvoyance ight rove o be a useful ew
forensicool.67he
renowned erlin
etective
nspector
rnst ennatwrote
n
this
egard:
Clairvoyance
s a
so-called id
in
solving
riminalases
appeared
n the cene
fter he
war. he Criminal
olicewhohave
o
apply veryegal
means f
olving
rimes,
n
no
way
rejectedlairvoyance
rom he
utset,
ather
hey
et
up
a
special
cientific
epartment
hat
checkedll cases
hatwere
upposed
o havebeen
olved
hroughlairvoyance.68
In
a similar tatement
oncerning
he
police
use of
clairvoyants
n
Essen,
Criminalommissionerchultz oted hat apital aseswhichwere ot uick-
ly
resolved ia
physical
vidence
ften
rovoked
rivate
fforts
o
identify
the
perpetrator.
n
such
ases,
he
police
were
glad
of
any
nformation
hese
enquiries
roduced,
ven
when t
was derived
hrough
he
modernmethods
f
clairvoyance
nd
telepathy.69
By
hemid- 920s he
Weimar
olice
adutilized
lairvoyants,
n
their
apac-
ity
s
human
olice-dogs',
n
several
ases,
n
some
nstances
ctivelyeeking
63
Elder,
Murder
cenes',
p.
cit.,
0.
64
Ibid.,
0-3.
65
Wagner,
olksgemeinschaft,
p.
cit.,
7-8.
66 Ibid., 02.
67 Otto
eeling,
er
Bernburger
ellseher-Prozeß,
it ild
und
chriftprobe
esLehrers rost
nebst inem
orwortonRechtsanwalt
r.
Winterberg
Berlin-Pankow
925),
3.
68
'Rechtsprechung',
riminalistische
onatshefte
(1929),
45.
69 Die Methode
der
Telepathie
nd
Hellseherei ur
Aufklärung
on Verbrechen. on
Kriminalkommissar
chultz
Essen).
Nachlaß Albert
Hellwig
10/4 Hellsehen
llgemein.
Korrespondenz,
914-1929,
GPP.
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the Weimar olice
595
outtheir elp nd nothersttendingéances rganizedy hird arties.70or
example,
n
March
1922,
at the nsistence
fthemurdered an's
riends,
he
police
nd
the
prosecuting
ttorney
n
Tilsit
rought
n
the isters iederich
and Hessel
n
the
hope
of
solving
he October
921 murder f the hunter
Olbrisch,
hich adoccurred
earReisterbruch.
iederich's
escription
f he
murderered
to the rrest f
a local butcher
y
he
name fWilhelm
.,
who
later onfessed
o the rime.71
imilarly,
uring
he
nvestigation
nto he
mur-
der f
forest arden
n
Bednarken,
ünther-Geffers,
hohadbeen
hired
y
local
andowner,
rovided
he
olice
with nformationbout
he ircumstances
surrounding
he rime
ndthe
dentity
f reluctant
itness,
hich
ltimately
helpedonvictheman hey ad ncustody.72hile hese ases uggestedhat
criminal
elepaths
ight lay
constructiveole
n
the
nvestigation
fcertain
intractable
rimes,
he
police
presidents
f cities
ncluding
erlin,
eipzig,
Königsberg
ndKielremained
autious
bout heir
se;
n
some ases
refusing
the
equests
f
nvestigators
o consult
lairvoyants.
iven
he ackof cientific
evidence
or he
eality
f
clairvoyance
nd the
perceived
ropensity
foccult-
ists
or
raud,
hese
men elt
ustified
n
nsisting
n
an
enquiry
nto
very
ase
of riminal
elepathy
hat ook
place
n
their
urisdiction.73
The
potential
foccult
etection,
hould
t
prove
oth
usceptible
o scientif-
ic verification
nd
applicable
n
demand,
ppeared
o be tremendous.
ndeed,
occultdetectionppeared o offer kindofcompromiseetween orensic
techniques,
hichwere
not
lways pplicable,
nd witness
tatements,
hich
were
frequently
naccurate;
romising
o
identify
races,
lbeit
sychic
nes,
left ehind
y
criminals
nd
victims,
nd
to
provide
irst-hand
nowledge
f
places,
eople
nd motivations.
indful
f
this
otential,
heGerman
olice
put
riminal
elepathy
o
the est
n
the
aboratory
nd the
field,
here twas
hoped
hat uccess
rfailureould
be measured
angibly
n
thenumber
f
ases
solved.
heresults
f uch
xperiments
ere
not,however,
uite
s
unambigu-
ous as
the
police
uthorities
ight
ave wished.
n
many
ases
t remained
unclearwhether hevaguedescriptionsf peopleand events rovided y
clairvoyants
ctually
ided
or hindered
nvestigations
nd whetherhemore
accurate
rognostications
f riminal
elepaths
ere erived
y
ranscendental
means r
simply
leaned
rom
ewspaper eports
nd witnesses. his confu-
sion
was articulated
y
heBerlin
riminalistax
Hagemann,
honoted hat
despite
he
arge
number f
spiritualistittings
e had
attended,
e remained
unable
o ascertain hether
lairvoyance
r
telepathy
xisted. e found hat
much
f the nformation
e heardfrommediums
ontained modicum f
truth,
ut
was unable o determinehether
hemedium ad come cross his
70 Albert ellwign HerrnMinisterialratärtung,otsdam,en12November925.Nachlaß
Albert
ellwig
0/4 ellsehen
llgemein.orrespondenz,
914-1929,
GPP.
71 Otto
Goldman,
Die sächsischen
ellseherinnen',
eitschriftür
kritischenkkultismus
(1928),
129-30.
72
Lambert,
Der
nsterburger
rozeß',
p.
cit.,
35.
73 Albert
ellwig,Wahrsagen
nd Hellsehen'. achlaßAlbert
ellwig
0/4
Hellsehen/Fall
'August
rost',
GPP.
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596
Journal
f Contem
poraryHistory
ol 44
No
4
informationynatural rsupernaturaleans.74his ackof ertaintyoncern-
ing
both he
utility
nd the
veracity
f the
nformation
rovided y
criminal
telepaths
ltimately
ivided
pinion
mong
Weimar riminalistsverwhether
criminal
elepathy
as a valuable ddition o
themethods f
police
cience r
a
deliberatend
potentiallyangerous
orm ffraud.
The initial
pen-mindedness
n
the
part
of
Germany's olice
towards
clairvoyance
s an
investigative
ool
became
empered
ver ime
y
the
fre-
quent
naccuraciesnd
ambiguities
n
the
estimony
f criminal
elepaths.
n
Düsseldorf
uring
929,
for
xample,
he
police
were
nitiallyappy
o
allow
those ccultists ho volunteeredheir
ssistance o become
nvolved
n
the
search or he nfamouserialmurderernowns theDüsseldorfampire,ut
as itbecame lear hat he nformation
rovided y
hese ccult
etectives as
contradictory,hey
ecamedismissivef such
offers.75
imilarly,uring
he
investigation
f
he
Anderheyden
exualmurder
n
Essen he
uthorities
ought
the
help
fa medium ho
purported
o be able to describehe
rime
n
all its
particulars.
n further
nvestigation,
owever,
he
clairvoyant'sescription
ofthemurdernd the
ircumstancesnderwhich t took
place
were ound o
bear
ittle
esemblanceo the acts.76he
police
uthorities
n
Essen
oncluded
from
his
xperience,
s did
many
ther
egional olice
forces
uring
his
period,
hat he
powers
f
clairvoyants
ereno substituteor
aborious
olicework.77
By
the nd
of
the1920s therewas concern
mong olice
officials ot
only
that riminal
elepathy
as of ittle se
in
the
field,
utalso that t
actively
interfered
ith he
bility
f
the
Kriminalpolizei
o do their
ob.
Their
irst
complaint
n
this
regard
was the amount f
police
timewasted
following
up
theevidence
rovided y
occultists.
n
Berlin,
very
major
riminalase
attracted
lairvoyants
nd
astrologersager
o offerssistance o the
police.
Investigating
he eads
provided
y
these
ccultists,
s ErnstGennat
tated,
greatly ultiplied
he riminalist'sorkload.78
erhaps redictably,
ennat's
complaintsbout riminalelepaths imickedhose hathe andother rimi-
nalistsmade bout
witnesses,
hose naccuratend
n
many
ases rrelevant
statementsere
esponsible
or oth alse eads ndexcess
aperwork.79
hese
criminalists
omplained,
urthermore,
hat he
contemporaryrevalence
f
criminal
elepaths
nd their
ortrayal
n
both he
press
nd
popular
ulture
seemed
o
encourage
he
ublic
o seek ut
lairvoyants
atherhan
olicemen
when
hey
ecamevictims f crime. his concernwas
particularly
vident
74
Auszug
aus dem
Vortrag
über Moderne
Kriminalpolizei
von Herrn
Oberregierungsrat
Hagemann, Vortrage
der Polizeiwissenschaftlichen oche vom
27
Oktober bis
1
Nov.
1924,
Berlin,
925 Seite 137
f.' n
Nachlaß Albert
HellwiglO/4Korrespondenz
924-1926,
IGPP.
75 Ibid. See also Kaes, M,
op.
cit., 32; Mel Gordon, Erik
Jan
Hanussen. Hitler's
Jewish
Clairvoyant
Los
Angeles
001),
167.
76 'Die Methode der
Telepathie
und Hellseherei
zur
Aufklärung
von Verbrechen Von
Kriminalkommissarchultz
Essen),
op.
cit.
77 'Die Methode der
Telepathie
nd
Hellseherei',
Hellwig
10/4, GPP,
op.
cit.
78
'Rechtsprechung',p.
cit.,
45.
79
Elder,
Murder
Scenes',
op.
cit.,
85.
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the
Weimar olice 597
duringhe1929censorshipearingn theclairvoyantilm'Hellseher-Film),
which tarred
he riminal
elepath
ünther-Geffers.
The
screenplay
as as follows:
elga
s
a
womanwhose
endency
o som-
nambulism
s
heighteneduring
hefull
moon.While
Helga
and herhusband
are
at
a
sitting
ith
clairvoyant
edium
Günther-Geffers)
heir
stranged
son Kurt teals
money
rom is father's esk.That
night,
fter he
couple's
returnnd before he
discovery
f the
theft,
he husband
s murdered. he
police,finding
urt
n
possession
f the
money, harge
him
withmurder.
Distraught,elga goes
to themedium
sking
or
help.
The mediumnforms
Helga
that twas shewho shot
herhusband
while
n
a somnambulisticrance
broughtn bythe fullmoon.Helgacommits uicideby drinkingoison.80
Before
making
is
recommendation,
he ensor
ought
xpert pinions
rom
the
Kripo
bout he
utility
f
lairvoyance
s a forensic
ool.
nspector
ennat
stated
hat
espite
ll
effortso
verifyeports
fcriminal
elepathy,
heBerlin
police
had been nable
o find
onvincing
vidence
or he
eracity
f ven ne
case. On the
ubject
fthe
ilm's
elease,
e
warned,
The
film
tself
ndangers
ublic
rder ecause
he onscious
omparison
f the
nadequate
police
olutionnd
the olution fthe
lairvoyant
illmake he
public
waver
n
their rust
of he
olice.81
That
Günther-Geffers,
hose
notoriety
ad
spread
s a result f
her 1927
trial
or raud
n
nsterburg,
layed
he ead role
n
this
ilm,
e
argued,
nly
served
o
give
this
dangerous
iction he
appearance
f
reality.
he censor
prohibited
he elease
fthe
film,
n thebasis hat t belittledhework fthe
criminal
olice
nd
encouraged
n
the
public
hebelief hat riminal
elepaths
rather
han he
police
were
best
quipped
o
nvestigate
rime,
ven
n
capital
cases.82
In
the ame
year
s this
ensorship
earing,
he
Minister
or he
nterior
prohibited
he
practice
f criminal
elepathy
n
Prussia. t
had
come to his
attention,ewrote,hat espite rofoundffortso educate olice fficersnd
the
public
bout henature nd
effectsf so-called riminal
elepathy, any
still
ersisted
n
their elief hat ertain
eople,
s a result
f
paranormal
bili-
ties,
were
apable
f
helping
he
police
nd
private
itizensolve rimes.83he
ministertressed
hat,
ecause he
eputation,
onour,
conomic
xistencend
freedomf German itizensould
depend
n theresults f
police nquiries,
t
was
crucial
hat
nly
hosemethodshat adbeen
cientifically
erifiede used
in criminal
nvestigations.
or these
easons,
e
wrote,
e forbade he
police
from
sing lairvoyants
nd
telepaths
n
their
ursuit
fcriminals.84
hisdeci-
sionwas
applauded yhigh-rankingolice fficials,
homaintainedot
only
80
'Rechtsprechung',p.
cit.,
5.
81
Ibid.
82
Ibid.
83 Otto
Seeling,
Verbot er
Beschäftigung
on
sogen.Kriminaltelepathen',eitschriftür
Parapsychologie
(7) (1929),
01.
84
Ibid,
01-2.
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598
Journal
f
ContemporaryHistory
ol
44 No
4
that he nformationrovided ycriminalelepathsreatedmoreworkfor
the
police,
ut hat riminal
elepathy
hreatenedo undermineheir
uthor-
ity.85
hile his
rohibition
idnot
pply
o other erman
tates,
y
1929 the
police
orces
n
most ftheLänderhad also
stopped
sing
riminal
elepaths,
having
ecided hat
hey
weremore
ikely
o
be a hindrancehan
help.
Although
hePrussian
Minister or he nterior ad stressedack of scien-
tific erification
s the
major
actor
rohibiting
heuse
of criminal
elepathy,
it
appears
o havebeen
lairvoyance's
ackof
utility
hat
onstituted
hereal
problem;
fter
ll,
t was
pragmatism
ot cientific
tatuswhich ended o be
thedecisive
actor
n
whether ew
techniques
nd
technologies
ere ested
and retainedythepolice.Theadoption f newforensicools ndmethods,
includinglairvoyance,uring
he
arly
920shadbeen ntendedo rationalize
policing
nd make
t
more
fficient.riminal
elepathy,
owever,
hich ad
proven
nreliable
n
numerousests oth
n
thefield
nd
in
the
courtroom,
seemed
nly
o createmore
work.
urthermore,
olice
useof
lairvoyants
as
problematic,
s both he
ensor's nd theMinister'statementsad
suggested,
because t
fragmented
pistemicuthority
ver rime nd
policing.
hiswas a
frustrationot
only
orWeimar
riminalists,
howere ntentn
professional-
izing,
ut lso for ndividuals
n
fields uch s law and
medicine ho claimed
expertise
n
the
nderstanding
f rime ndcriminals.t was critics
f
riminal
telepathyhoderivedrom hese ields, ost otablyheurist lbert ellwig
and the
psychiatrist
lbert
Moll,
whose
rticles,
pinions
nd
petitions
ad
helped
ormulatehe nterior
inister's
rohibition.
Albert
ellwig,
district
ourt irector
n
Potsdam,
tudiedndtested
many
of thebest-known
ontemporary
riminal
elepaths,ollecting
nd
analysing
the rticles hat
ppeared
n these
Occult riminalists'
n
the
press.Hellwig
used hismaterial
o
guide
ndadvise
he
olice
n
their
ealings
ith
lairvoy-
ants,
resenting
is
findings
o
police
ndforensicodies
hroughout
he oun-
try.86
n
this
apacity,
e
gained reputation
s a virulent
pponent
f occult
detection.87lbertMoll,a Berlin-basedsychiatristho had used hisearly
interest
n
hypnotism
nd
psychical
esearch o debunk
omeof
Germany's
most amous
mediums,
as also
called
upon by
theBerlin
olice
o test he
powers
f
putative
lairvoyants.88
oll boasted
n
hismemoirshat
his
opin-
ionhad
directly
ontributedo the
1929 decision ftheReich
Ministeror he
85
'Rechtsprechung',
p.
cit.,
45.
86 Die
Kriminaltelepathie
om
forensisch-psychologischen
tandpunkt
(Vortrag
am
1
October
1929 auf Settiner
olizeipräsidium);
Die
Kriminaltelepathie
m
Lichteder
forensischen
Psychologie'
Vortrag
n
der
Forensisch-Psychologischen
esellschaft
m
Hamburg
am 30
April
1926);
Aufklärung
on Verbrechen urch
Hellsehen
Vortrag
n
der
Humboldt-Hochschule m
9
January 926); NachlaßAlbertHellwig10/4Hellsehen/FallAugustDrost', GPP.
87
Hellwig'snotoriety
n
thisfieldwas not restricted
o occult ircles.
Kurt
Tucholsky,
or xam-
ple,
referredo
Hellwig
s a base materialistnd
as
a
man who had
specialized'
n
anti-occultism.
Kurt
Tucholsky,
Gesammelte
Werke,
ol.
5,
Mary
Gerold-Tucholsky
nd Fritz
J.
Raddatz
(eds)
(Reinbek
bei
Hamburg
1975),
29.
88 Albert
Moll,
Ein Leben als
Arzt
der
Seele:
Erinnerungen
Dresden
1936),
117. For an exam-
ple
of Moll's
debunking
ctivities,
ee
Albert
Moll,
Der
Spiritismus
Stuttgart
924).
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd
the Weimar olice 599
InterioroprohibitriminalelepathynPrussia.89ndeed, iven hemanner
in
whichMoll and
Hellwig ver-emphasized
oth
he
prevalence
f criminal
telepathy
nd ts
putative angers,
heMinisterouldhavebeen
forgiven
or
thinking
hat
Germany
as beset
y
veritable
lague
f
clairvoyants.
The
critiques roduced
y
these
men,
who
sought
o vouchsafehe laims
of
urists
nd
psychiatrists
ithin henascent ield f
criminology
y expel-
ling
ay practitioners
uch
s
occultists,
ocused
n
threemain
dangers.
he
first as the hreat
osed by
criminal
elepathy
o
justice.
Moll
complained
in
this
egard
hat nformation
btained rom riminal
elepaths
as
likely
o
mislead
r hinder
nvestigations,
esulting
n
wasted ime nd the
defamation
and incarcerationf nnocenteople.90imilarly,ellwignoted hatduring
his career
e had witnessed
undreds f
people
endure
ccusations,
ouse-
searches
ndarrestst
the nsistencef
riminal
elepaths.91
n this
asis,
hey
urged
he
police
o
forgo
heuse of
clairvoyants.
The second
danger
dentified
y
these riticswas the threat hatoccult
detectionnd ts
portrayal
n
the
press
onstitutedor
olice
laims
o
profes-
sionalismnd
expertise.
his
critique
which ed
off
he
widespread
nxi-
eties bout
heroleof the
Weimar
ress
nd its
representation
f
crime
hat
havebeen
dentified
y
scholars
uch s Sara Hall
-
was
pursued oggedly
byHellwig.
n
particular,
e was
concernedt themanner
n
which he
press
reported
he rials f riminal
elepaths
or raud.92
ollowing
he1925 trial f
the
hypnotist
ugust
rost,
or
xample,
hevast
majority
f he
press eport-
ed the efendant's
cquittal
s an affirmationf riminal
elepathy,
atherhan
an
acknowledgement
f
Drost's
ood
faith.
ellwig
omplained
hat
uch
en-
sationalismnd
naccuracy
n
crime
ndcourt
eports,
hichwere ome f he
most
opular
nd
eagerly
eadcolumns
n
the
daily ress uring
heWeimar
Republic,
ere oth
isruptive
f he
udicial
rocess
nddetrimentalo
public
welfare.93
e calledon the
press
o rememberheir
uty
o their eaders nd
their ultural
mission,
arning
hat rticleshat utlinedhe uccess fcrimi-
naltelepaths,articularlynthose aseswhere police nvestigationad met
with
ailure,
ad the
potential
o convince he
public
hat
lairvoyants
ather
than he
police
were
he
xperts
n
mattersf crime nd detection.94s evi-
dence fthis ontention
e noted henumerousettershe
police
had received
89
Moll,
Ein Leben ls
Arzt
er
eele,
p.
cit.,
17-18.
90
Ibid., 17,
121.
91
Albert
ellwig,
Wahrsagen
nd Hellsehen'. achlaßAlbert
ellwig
0/4Hellsehen/Fall
'August
rost',
GPP.
92
On the nxieties obilized
y
he ensational
overage
f
rime
n
the
ress,
eeSaraF.
Hall,
'The
Subject
nder
nvestigation:
eimar ulturendthe
olice',
hD
dissertation,
niversity
f
Californiat
Berkeley,
000.
93
Ibid.,
ii.
94
On the
ontemporary
ebate ver he
responsibility
f the
press
o the
public
nd ts ul-
tural
mission,
ee Modris
kstein,
he
Limits
f
Reason.TheGerman emocraticress nd the
Collapse f
Weimar
emocracy
London 975),
71.
For
Hellwig's omplaints
bout
reporting,
see Albert
ellwig,
Der Hellseher
on
Rothenstein',
eitschriftür
ritischenkkultismusnd
Grenzfragen
es Seelenlebens
(1) (1927), 8;
Hellwig,
Okkultismus nd
Vebrechen,
p.
cit.,
89.
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600
Journal
f
Contemporary
History
ol 44 No 4
inthe ftermathftheDrost rial,which emandedhat rost's ollectionf
clairvoyants
atherhan he
police nvestigate
he
orrespondents'
ases.95
According
o
Hellwig
nd
Moll,
the hird
anger
ssociatedwith riminal
telepathy
as ts ntimate
elationship
ith
ypnosis.
ostcriminal
elepaths,
as
we
have
seen,
performed
heir
lairvoyantnvestigations
n
a
hypnotic
trance,
ither
elf-induced,
s
in
the ase ofWalther
öpfner,
r
by
means f
a
hypnotist,
uch s Drost
or
Hessel.The
problems
ere
were
wofold. or
Moll,
hypnosis,
r
more
ccurately
hedissemblancef
t,
was used
by
rimi-
nal
telepaths
o
give
heir
erformances
certain
sychologicalmpression
nd
to
avoid
responsibility
hen he nformation
hey rovided
as inaccurate.96
Höpfner,or xample, uring is 1925prosecutionor raud,laimed hathe
was
completely
naware
f
what
he
said while
under
ypnosis.97
n
arguing
that riminal
elepaths'
se
of
hypnosis
as
a blind or
onscious
raud,
oth
Moll and
Hellwig uggested
ot
only
hat
lairvoyants
erenot
really
ble to
provide
nformationbout
rimes,
ut hat
hey
were
n
fact riminals
hem-
selves. he second
roblem osed
by
he ssociation
etween
riminal
elepa-
thy
nd
hypnosis
as ts
danger
o the omnambulist'sealth hen nduced
y
a
laypractitioner.ellwig,
or
xample, rgued
hat
ayhypnotists
ere ften
ignorant
f heir
ubject's
nderlying
edical onditions
nd the
ontraindica-
tions oncomitantith rtificial
omnambulism,
ltimatelyeading
o
damage
to the ubject's ealth, articularlyental ealth. ellwig lso mobilized he
contemporary
opular
oncern
bout he ublimationf one's
will
o sinister
or criminal
ypnotists,
hich cholars uch s Stefan
ndriopoulos
nd Ruth
Harris ave
pointed
o,
n
order o
suggest
hat he
ay
use
of
hypnotism
ould
easily
ead to
a somnambulisticrimewave.98 he
dangers
hat
ay hypnosis
posed
forhealth nd
public
rderwereboth
ropes
hat
had beenused
by
medical
ypnotists,
ncluding
oll,
during
he atenineteenth
entury
s
part
of their
truggle
o
gain
a medical
monopoly
ver
he
use of
hypnotism.
n
the ontext f
criminal
elepathy,
owever,
hey
worked
o
suggest
hemental
instabilityf theentrancedlairvoyantnd thepredatoryriminalityfthe
hypnotist.
hile uch
figures
ere
learly
ot uitable
o
provide xpertise
n
the
fields f
criminology
nd
policing,hey
were,
ritics
uch s
Hellwig
nd
Moll
argued, ntirelyegitimate
ubjects
f
egal
nd
psychiatric
ntervention.
Although
oubtless heambivalence
bout new
technologies
nd forensic
techniques
hat atrick
Wagner
dentified
n
his
tudy
fWeimar
olicing
as
real,
heuse of
clairvoyantsy
theGerman
olice
during
he 1920s did not
necessarilypitomize
his mbivalence.
n
a context
n which he scientific
status
fthe ccult emained
n
openquestion,
nd
n
which
ragmatism
as
95
Hellwig,
kkultismus
nd
Verbrechen,
p.
cit.,
9.
96 Moll,EinLeben lsArzt er eele, p.cit., 20.
97
'Auszug
us den Akten er
Staatsanwaltschaftautzen
wegen
Betruges
tA
II
10I8/25',
Albert
ellwig
0/4Hellsehen/Fall
Höpfner',
GPP.
98 On
hypnotic
rimes
n
the German
ontext,
ee Peter
Jansen
nd Stefan
ndriopoulos
(tr.
tefan
ndriopoulos),
ossessed:
ypnotic
rimes,
orporate
iction,
nd the nvention
of
Cinema
Chicago
nd London
008).
In
the
French
ontext,
ee Ruth
Harris,
Murdersnd
Madness:
Medicine,
aw,
nd
Society
n the inde Siècle
Oxford
989).
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Wolffram:
rime,
lairvoyance
nd the Weimar
olice 60
1
a decisive actorn he echniquesndtechnologiesdopted y riminalists,he
brief lirtation
f theWeimar
olice
with
lairvoyance
an be seen s
part
f
their edicationo
professionalizationhrough
cience nd
technology,
ather
than
rejection
f
it. As demonstrated
y
recent tudies f modern
ccult-
ism,
whichhaveconsidered
he mobilizationf theoccult o
solvemodern
socialand scientific
roblems,
t s no
longer
easible o dismiss
ny
and all
forays
nto ccultisms
symptoms
f
echnological
nd scientifictavism. he
strange
onfluenceetween
modern
olicing
nd theoccult hat ccurred
n
Germanyollowing
hefirst orld
war, hen,
an be understoods a creative
answer o the
problems
osed by
the ntersectionf
rising
rime,
conomic
desperation,olice verwork,nd thedesire oprove oth he cientifictatus
and social
utility
foccultism.
Thisunusual
olutioneems o
have
been
nabled,
n
part, y
he act
hat he
disciplinary
nd
professional
oundaries
urroundingriminology
nd
polic-
ing
emained
n
flux
uring
he
arly
Weimar
eriod.
or
he
police,
whowere
intent
n
using
nnovations
n
science nd
technology
o make
policing
more
efficient
ndmore
rofessional,
his ackof ohesion llowed
xperimentation
with nd discussion
f
new
nd
scientifically
nverified
echniques
ike rimi-
nal
telepathy.
or hose
rofessionals,
n
areas uch
s
law and
psychiatry,
ho
wished
o
ay
laim o
expertise
n
criminology
nd
policing,
owever,
riminal
telepaths,
n
pite
f heirtatisticalnsignificance,epresentedfragmentation
of their
pistemic
uthority.
eterminedo
expel
hese
ay competitors
rom
their
errain,
riticsuch s
Hellwig
nd Moll alerted he uthoritiesnd the
public
o the
myriad angers
ssociatedwith ccult etectionnd
sought
o
debunk
ositive
eports
f
clairvoyance,alling
n
themedia o avoidsensa-
tionalism
n
favour
f
accuracy
nd
public esponsibility.
inally,
hese ritics
suggested
he
riminality
nd mental
nstability
fcriminal
elepaths
nd their
hypnotists,
s a means f
transforming
hese ccultistsrom
ompetitors
nto
subjects
f
egal
nd
psychiatric
nalysis.
While
Hellwig
nd Moll
may
have
convincedhe uthoritiesf theirase,as evidencedythe1929prohibition
ofcriminal
elepathy
n
Prussia,
riminal
elepathsroved
esilient
n
theface
ofofficial
isapproval,
ontinuing
o offerheir erviceso the
public
ntil ll
species
foccultism ere
anned
n
1937 under henazi
regime.
Heather
Wolffram
is a
postdoctoral
ellow t theCentre or
he
History
f
European
Discoursest the
University
f
Queensland,
ustralia.
er
book
on
psychical
esearchnd
parapsychology
n
Germany,
itled
StepchildrenfScience: sychical esearchndParapsychologyn
Germany,
.
1870-1939,
s
forthcoming
s
part
ftheClio Medica:
Wellcome
eries
n
the
History
f
Medicine
Rodopi).