Abstract:
World War I is known for being the first industrialized war. More than 600,000soldiers, who had served in the German army, suffered from psychic diseases, andeven many women, who had remained at home during the war, were affected by suchmental illnesses. Psychiatrists, who were not only working at the “homefront” but alsoat the battleground, were in both situations confronted with these diseases. However,they did not only analyse and diagnose the patients but they also interpreted the warand its influence on the individuals. This article deals with these interpretations of thewar by examining patient records of male and female, civil and soldier patients of theSt.Jürgen-Asyl in Bremen (Germany). The psychiatrists of the Bremer St.Jürgen-Asyltended to see no causal relationship between the experiences that their patients hadmade during the “Great War” and their psychic diseases as they were convinced thatgenetic predisposition would cause mental illness. Only in a few patient records anexplicit connection between the experiences that the soldiers had made during the warand their resulting mental illnesses can be found. Against the background of thetraditional gender role models of that time, the psychiatrists were of the opinion thatonly men fighting at the front were involved and affected by the war. According to thepublic opinion men and women would have a specific obligation towards society(especially during war), which they could not provide when mentally ill. Thereforepsychiatrists interpreted mental health as an obligation that every efficient member ofthe society had to fulfil.