Perspectives of eating disorders from the Charité Hospital in Berlin

Eating disorders have attracted steadily expanding clinical and scientific attention since second half of the 19th century and, particularly, after the core descriptions of anorexia nervosa had been delivered by Gull and Lasegue. In this review, we attempt to illustrate perspectives on eating disorders that have emerged since then from the work at the Charite Hospital in Berlin. It is shown that the professional fate of care for eating disorders has been tied closely to the maturation of the specialty of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy in the 20th century. From the early beginnings of Theodor Ziehen (1862–1950) heading the Psychiatric and Neurological University Clinic of the Charite Hospital in Berlin and being devoted to child psychiatry and psychology, the issue of eating disorders has been pursued at the Charite throughout the vicissitudes of time. After a ward for children suffering from mental illnesses was instituted by Karl Bonhoeffer (1868–1948) in 1921, child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy has constituted itself first in terms of a division and finally as a separate department at the Charite Hospital. Over the years, quite a remarkable body of work on eating disorders has accumulated in this institution. It is emphasised that the value of contributions inherited appears not just of historical interest. The past has addressed psychotherapeutic, anthropological, biological, psychometric, neuropsychological, and transcultural aspects which continue to yield insights into the nature of eating disorders. Tasks and prospects ahead are based upon this background, and some of these are outlined briefly.