Letter from Karl Abraham to Sigmund Freud, March 3, 1913

153A

Berlin
3 March 1913

Dear Professor,

First of all, many thanks for your lines and for the reprint!1 I am amazed at all the new ideas and points of view contained in this series of papers. I have also received the two reprints from the I.[nternationale] Zeitschr.[ift]2; I should like sometime to make a few small additions to the technical paper.

I have to let my psychoanalytic pen rest for the time being, as I am now occupied with preparatory work for my Habilitation. I have therefore provided the with several small contributions. must wait for the time being.—I am working on associations in normal old age and in mild cases of senile dementia. It will be a good old Prussian piece of work, forcing open doors. If only it would also force the door to the University. In fact, things do not look quite so bad for me as I first thought. Kraus has become very interested. For two days running he discussed Ψα in detail in his clinic. But the best is the following. I had asked Professor Liepmann (the aphasia-apraxia researcher) to explore my chances with Bonhoeffer. L.[iepmann] let me know by letter at the time that B.[onhoeffer]'s reaction had been thoroughly negative. In a personal meeting I asked Liepmann to tell me about the matter in more detail, and then it came out that B. had actually said: if I wrote a good paper he would not be opposed to it on principle! This strange contradiction, which is interesting in the matter of “testimonies”, is due to the fact that, in spite of his recognized ability, L. himself did not get the chair he longed for. He has already been suggested four or five times for different universities. He has become very pessimistic and despite his otherwise good intentions towards me has let his complex get mixed up with my affairs.

I am attaching a programme of the psychiatrists' congress.3 You probably know about this event already. There is perhaps not much point in going there; if you, dear Professor, were in favour, then I would pe