Wilhelm Reye

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Daniel Wilhelm Reye (born April 22, 1833 in Ritzebüttel , † February 15, 1912 in Hamburg ) was a German psychiatrist .

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Wilhelm Reye studied medicine at the University of Göttingen and the University of Heidelberg . After receiving his doctorate in 1855, he went to Hamburg, where he tried to get a job as a "assistant surgeon" at the St. Georg General Hospital . Ludwig Meyer came to the hospital in 1858 and took over the management of the so-called insane department. He chose Reye as his assistant. In 1862 the " insane, sanatorium and nursing home Friedrichsberg " opened, taking in patients who had previously been treated in the St. Georg Hospital. The St. Georg Hospital was now responsible for chronically ill people. Wilhelm Reye worked here as an external secondary doctor.

In March 1866, Ludwig Meyer moved to the University of Göttingen. Wilhelm Reye took over his position as head of the Friedrichsberg insane asylum, which had 264 beds when he started work. In the following years the institution developed into one of the largest such institutions in the German-speaking area. In 1900 the institution had 1250 beds, eight years later 1400. The number of beds rose in line with the number of residents and made it necessary to build several new clinics. The organizational procedures for caring for these patients in Hamburg also had to be reformed, which began only slowly at first. Reye took on this task and turned out to be the right choice. However, he did not push ahead with modernization and was only cautious about increasing the number of employees.

Since the institution was overcrowded, so-called “infirmaries” and temporary barracks were built in 1878 and 1885. The retirement department, which welcomed wealthy people, was also expanded. In February 1888, Reye requested in a letter to refrain from further construction work at the Friedrichsberg site. Instead, he gave the impetus to build a second institution due to the overcrowding. This resulted in the "Agricultural Colony for the Mentally Ill in Langenhorn ". The facility, which was opened in 1893, accommodated 200 poor, able-bodied, chronically ill people.

Grave of Daniel Wilhelm Reye, Ohlsdorf cemetery

During Reye's tenure, there was increasing criticism of outdated structures in the medical authorities, but this was not explicitly expressed. On March 31, 1908, Reye, who had never published or worked scientifically, went into retirement. The psychiatrist has received many official awards. For the care of mentally ill people in Hamburg, he was considered an almost mystical person.

Wilhelm Reye died in February 1912. In the same year the Reyesweg in Barmbek-Süd near his previous place of work was named after him.
Daniel Wilhelm Reye was buried in the family grave at the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg, grid square AD 12 (northwest of the north pond ).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Celebrity Graves
personal data
SURNAME Reye, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reye, Daniel Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German psychiatrist
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Ritzebüttel
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1912
Place of death Hamburg