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This book reexamines the reception of Freud's ideas in Germany between 1893 and 1907. It is commonly held that in that period Freud was virtually ignored or rejected out of hand by the preponderance of German psychiatrists and psychologists. The author's thesis is that this view is largely incorrect. Her refutation is based on a number of quotations, some admiring Freud, some critical of him, some condemning him entirely.
While there were occasional exceptions, when it comes to the broad viewpoints held by the majority of specialists at that time, she presents voluminous evidence to contradict her own thesis. Psychologists (p. 193) consistently failed to discuss Freud at meetings or in texts or monographs. The general state of medical knowledge of emotional disturbance at that time was “chaotic” (p. 180). The two basic premises of German medicine at that time were that there is a sharp dividing line between health and sickness, and that mental and emotional illness have basically organic causes (p. 179). Since psychoanalysis sharply contradicted both of these theses it was bound to be unpopular. Kraepelin, the leading authority in psychiatry, regarded hysteria as organic (p. 121) so he had only sarcastic remarks to make about Freud.
Decker's attitude to Freud is exemplified by her remarks (p. 9) that the, concerns of psychoanalysis were merely part of the European Zeitgeist and that Freud's famous remark about his ten years of splendid isolation reflected his “self-pity and grandiosity” (p. 108). Although there are numerous photographs of leading physicians of that day, there is none of Freud.
It seems clear that the book's thesis is essentially incorrect. The fact remains that in the period 1893-1907 Freud was on the whole ignored and rejected by German medicine and psychology.