[Erlenmeyer hospitals in Bendorf, Germany. Pioneers in social psychiatry and education for the mentally retarded].

: Social psychiatry and education for mentally retarded people is by no means an achievement of the last 50 years. Influenced by the Enlightenment, some physicians thought and acted 150 years ago consistently with today's insight. The mental hospitals of Erlenmeyer senior and junior in Bendorf near Koblenz, Germany, serve as an example. In contrast to large and mostly governmentally led or supported institutions, smaller private institutions treated mentally retarded people more personally, lovingly, and attentively.