["The communication is of course very difficult." The "insane re-migrants" from America in the Hamburg Asylum Friedrichsberg 1909].
Between 1900 and 1914 many so-called "insane re-migrants" were admitted to the Hamburg Asylum in Friedrichsberg. These patients were mainly East European emigrants who had left Europe via Hamburg and who had been classified as insane and sent back by the US-authorities. About 450 relevant medical files are available, exactly 100 for the year 1909. Based on a quantitative examination of these files this paper provides a profile of these patients. It analyses how these patients were perceived and how physicians and authorities in Hamburg dealt with them. Furthermore several case histories and different circumstances of deportation from the USA will be discussed. The article shows a particular formation of madness in the context of transatlantic migration. Most of the patients spoke little or no German. Minders or fellow patients often acted as interpreters.
Wulf
Stefan
S
Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg. s.wulf@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Schmiedebach
Heinz-Peter
HP
D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States