The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute was celebrated in Berlin on October 6 and 7, 1970. Several hundred analysts from all parts of Europe, students of analysis and members of allied professions took part in the special sessions, the scientific meetings, and the social gatherings which had been organized by G. Maetze.
At the anniversary session it was announced by H. J. Bannach, the director of the Institute that the Institute would from now on carry the name of its great founder: it will be the Karl Abraham Institute. It was also mentioned that the first report of the Berlin Institute (on its activities from 1920 to 1930) had been reprinted and that Anna Freud had written a preface to this republication.
The speech of H. G$uUnther, the chief prosecuting attorney, was especially impressive. He spoke of the decisive influence of Freud's work on the reform of legal thought and practice in Berlin, and he mentioned with gratitude how much the seminars which the Berlin Institute offers to the legal profession have meant to him and his colleagues. In his chambers hangs a picture of Freud. When a naive visitor asks him whether this man was his predecessor in office, he reported with fine humor that he tends to reply: “In a way, yes!”
Of special interest was a talk by Hilda Abraham who spoke about the beginnings of psychoanalysis in Berlin and about her father's early work. H. Kohut gave a public lecture at the Free University of Berlin on the topic: “Is the Investigation of the Inner Life of Man Still Relevant Today?”
The two days of commemorative meetings were followed by one day of scientific sessions organized by the German Psychoanalytic Association under the chairmanship of H. Thoma.