title: Brücke's great-grandson's visit to Freud: a contribution to the understanding of Freud's relationship to Ernst Brücke.
abstract: Ernst Brücke's great-grandson paid a visit to Freud on 27 September 1932. Previously unknown documents relating to this visit, which Freud mentioned in his "Shortest Chronicle" ("Kürzeste Chronik"), provide evidence that this was Franz Theodor Brücke, 24 years old at the time. During the conversation, there was mention of the biography of Ernst Brücke, written in 1928 by his grandson, Ernst Theodor, the father of Franz Theodor Brücke, of which Freud had no knowledge. After he received a copy of the book, Freud quickly responded with a previously unknown letter to Franz Theodor Brücke, in which he emphasized Brücke's "capacity for love" and corrected details in the biography, including the cause of the blow to Brücke's nose. The relationship of Freud and Brücke will be described in a review of known sources and it will be shown that Brücke functioned to a great extent and into old age as an ego ideal for Freud. He also represented Freud's high standards, while Ernst Fleischl, who is mentioned twice in the letter by Freud, epitomizes the danger of failure.
authors.affiliation: Furtbachkrankenhaus Hospital for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Stuttgart.
authors.forename: Elmar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Etzersdorfer
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria / Q000208:ethnology; D015709:Correspondence as Topic / Q000266:history; D004532:Ego; D005619:Freudian Theory / Q000266:history; D005858:Germany / Q000208:ethnology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007398:Interpersonal Relations / Q000266:history; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D011642:Publications / Q000266:history; D012919:Social Behavior / Q000266:history