Carl Huter

Carl Huter

Carl Heinrich Conrad Huter (born October 9, 1861 in Heinde ; † December 4, 1912 in Dresden ) developed a teaching in physiognomics and phrenology . Both teachings are pseudoscience from today's perspective.

Live and act

Youth and student days

Carl Huter was born on October 9, 1861 in Heinde near Hildesheim as the eldest son of the hydraulic engineer Johann Heinrich Christian Huter (1836–1868). After the early death of his father, Carl Huter lived with relatives on a small farm in Oedelum (near Schellerten / Lower Saxony ). He grew up separated from his two sisters. According to the plans of his foster parents, he was supposed to take over the farm one day, and so he was denied access to high school. He escaped this pressure, however, and after his confirmation went to his mother in Heinde. In Hildesheim, Carl Huter completed an apprenticeship in decoration, porcelain and portraiture. After completing his apprenticeship, he went to Berlin , Leipzig and Dresden , where he continued his education in art history, philosophy, science and physiognomy.

In the years 1885 to 1892, Carl Huter financed his studies mainly by working as a decorative and portrait painter . In the Hildesheim and Braunschweig regions , various of his works are available in churches and privately owned.

Illness, development of teaching

Carl Huter fell ill with a severe throat problem and was operated on several times. This disease, which was medically described as incurable, gave him the impetus to deal with a wide variety of therapies. He was completely familiar with the basic medical subjects. On the basis of this knowledge, he further developed his already largely developed psycho-physiognomics and callisophy . His motto for the development of this doctrine was: Get an insight into the work of the most capable men and summarize the most valuable; this is the only way to do justice to everyone and thereby enrich one's knowledge better than through unreasonable arrogance of one or through unfounded disparagement of the other.

So he drew on the knowledge of the old physiognomics (see Physiognomics ) ( Johann Joachim Winckelmann , Giambattista della Porta , Charles Le Brun , Peter Camper ), the phrenologists (see Phrenology ) ( Gustav Scheve , Franz Joseph Gall ) and the mimics ( Charles Bell , Johann Jacob Engel , Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne , Paolo Mantegazza ) and led them to a synthesis .

From 1893 onwards, Carl Huter held small private courses in Hanover in the disciplines he had developed. As early as 1884 he had given around 1,000 lectures in various cities about his teachings. In Hanover he was given the opportunity to intensify his research in a larger health resort, which he had been appointed to manage.

Marriage and public service

After his marriage to Henny Pieper, Carl Huter opened his own sanatorium in Detmold in the summer of 1897 , which ensured his and his family's material existence for some time. Since he was denied teaching at universities due to his non-academic career, he turned to the public, and soon he was able to count many academics among his students and had an influence on many academics. This included Theodor Lessing , among others .

From the late summer of 1909 to the autumn of 1910, Carl Huter opened the following private institutes in Leipzig:

1. free German university for psychological research and comparative natural and religious sciences,
2. psychological research institute and
3. psychological museum with art, natural history and psychological departments.

As early as August 1911, all institutes had to be closed again due to a lack of funds.

Between 1894 and 1912 Carl Huter published around thirty larger works and treatises as well as a large number of smaller works. From 1900 he also published the magazine Die Hochwart , which, however, only had a print run of 800 to 1000 copies.

Together with his friend and student Adolf Brodbeck, Carl Huter proposed the first parliament of the world religions , which was held in Chicago in 1893. Huter wanted to set up a second religious parliament on the occasion of the inauguration of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig in 1913 as a work of reconciliation between peoples and religions. Due to his death in December 1912, this project could no longer be carried out.

When Carl Huter died on December 4, 1912 in Dresden at the age of 52, there were no relatives who could or would have managed his estate properly. The estate of Carl Huter therefore did not stay together, but his work was continued by August Amandus Kupfer .

Contents of psycho-physiognomics according to Huter

According to Huter, the shape of the human body and skull should be the result of an interplay of genetic factors and environmental influences. Several "radiation energies" that he has specifically defined play an important role here. According to his theory, the body shell to be interpreted is exposed to a constant reciprocal exchange of energy between inside and outside and this ultimately shapes the appearance of people. It remains unclear how clear points of interpretation are to be created that indicate specific human characteristics.

Psycho-Physiognomics Today

To date, there is neither a plausible theory of psycho-physiognomics nor any empirical evidence from an empirical study that, for example, shows the relationship between the size of the earlobe and the economic success of the earlobe wearer. Instead, modern physiognoms limit themselves to simply asserting the connection or refer to centuries-old empirical knowledge, which is often in the tradition of Lavater or Lombroso . For example, B. a contemporary psychophysiognom detailed the skull of a famous racing driver and then makes an interpretation that most readers will probably find plausible: concentrated, hard-working, strong-willed, etc. In the context of the practical application of psycho-physiognomy, as well as the related cranial theory , Only the interpreter's eye is used as a “measuring instrument”. He alone decides whether an earlobe should be considered large, medium or small, without the use of a tape measure or similar aids. To what extent z. If, for example, the seven areas above an eye are curved or flat, he must determine himself. Technical equipment or clear comparison models do not exist. In addition, dozens of points of interpretation are hidden under the hair on the head and therefore cannot be included in the investigation. There also remains the problem of how the enormous number of individual pieces of information, which result solely from the observation of the eyes, nose, ears and mouth, should be integrated into a diagnostic judgment. There are no binding rules here either.

“All in all, psycho-physiognomics turns out to be a centuries-old doctrine of faith that has not even managed to come up with a plausible, coherent theory. In the place of empirical evidence, there are allegations and sham evidence. "

- Uwe Kanning , Dipl.- Psych., Professor of Business Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück

Nevertheless, psycho-physiognomy seems to have gained a lot of momentum in business circles and also in seminars for private individuals in recent years.

Publications

• From poetry and love , 1894 (collection of poems)
• The Value of Rest and Sleep , 1897
• The latest healing science , 1898
• The bells from the Cheruscan Forest , 1899 (seals)
• The educated on the heights , 1903
• Knowledge of human nature, 1904–1906 (main work in five volumes)
• The New Ethics , 1907
• The Doctrine of Nature , 1907
• The New Weltanschauung , 1908
• The Sensitivity of Matter , 1909
• Huter and Haeckel - The Struggle Between Two Worldviews , 1910
• Fundamental discoveries for scientific psychophysiognomics , 1910
• Illustrated handbook of practical human knowledge , 1910
• Under one's own steam - from brush and palette to natural science and philosophy, psychophysiognomics and callisophy , 1911

literature

• Amandus Kupfer: Memoirs from the life of Carl Huter [Truthfully recorded as a document on the basis of personal experiences, handwritten notes and letters from Huter's estate]. Original Huterwerke publishing house, Schwaig near Nuremberg 1928.
• Amandus Kupfer (ed.): The good person who knows people. Publishing house for Carl Huter's works, Schwaig near Nuremberg. Illustrated magazine published 1932–1941, reissued from 1961 by Siegfried Kupfer and Hermann Bürkler.

Web links

• Literature by and about Carl Huter in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Uwe Kanning : Beyond all reason. Of cranial interpreters and charlatans of psychodiagnostics . Ed .: Skeptics. March 2010, p. 1-9 .
2. ↑ Florian Freistetter : Skull Science: Success comes with the right shape of the head . In: derStandard.at . March 18, 2015 ( derstandard.at [accessed on February 6, 2018]).