VIRUS Band 10, pp. 035-048, 2020/08/04
Based on the case history of the Tyrolean Franciscan Father W. this paper wishes toillustrate how difficult it was to draw a clear distinction between disciplining andtreating the mentally ill or those individuals seen as socio-politically querulous andoverly critical. The admission of Father W. in the Tyrolean Mental Asylum known asthe "Landes-Heil- und Pflegeanstalt für Geisteskranke" in 1831 caused public unrestwhich found expression in several newspaper campaigns – especially in the interest ofthe political parties – and was discussed among religious congregations as well as theintellectual elite of Tyrol.
Keywords: 20th century, Hall in Tyrol, mental illness, history of psychiatry, mental asylum, religious congregation, psychiatry in Austria, religious movements, Hall i.Tirol, history of psychiatry
