ADHD - An Illustrated historical overview

H offmann felt comfortable as a physician, especially as medical director of the "lunatic asylum". Prior to 1851, when he commenced as physician at the Frankfurt "Asylum for the Insane and Epileptic", he had never set foot in a "lunatic asylum", but quickly showed that he was the right man in the right place. As usual in the mid-19th century, Hoffmann and his family lived in the hospital and he was in permanent contact with his patients and responsible for their daily care. He attempted to apply the latest advances in psychiatry and managed to introduce proper employment, reasonable nutrition, and humane treatment, as well as or- derliness and cleanliness. From 1851 to 1852 Hoffmann undertook several trips to visit other European "lunatic asylums" and became convinced that conditions for the mentally ill in Frankfurt were unacceptable. He successfully organized a huge crusade to motivate citizens to donate money for a new "asylum" in Frank- furt which finally opened in Frankfurt´s Westend in 1864. "...when a physician enters a hospital department, it should have some traits of a sunrise, it must spread warmth and light; and so it should be in every patient's room." Hoffmann also warned: "What you cannot give the patient through your knowledge and art, try to give through emotional participation and love." Advice of Hoffmann for fellow doctors on the occasion of his 50 th anniversary as physician in 1883, quoted in Siefert and Herzog-Hoinkis, 2009, p. 108f. All texts by Siebke Melfsen and Susanne Walitza, Zurich, Switzerland. Photos and pictures contributed by the Struwwelpeter-Museum, Frankfurt, Germany.