[Gudden's diagnosis on Louis II from a contemporary and current psychiatric perspective]

Abstract

Background: Not only the circumstances of the simultaneous death of King Louis II and his psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden on Pentecost 1886 are still the subject of controversial discussion but also the nature of Louis' mental illness and the expert report that formed the basis for removing Louis from power.

Results: When one considers the psychiatric knowledge of the time, however, it becomes clearer how the four experts who assessed Louis reached a diagnosis of paranoia (madness). Gudden left behind no textbook. Nevertheless, a comparison of the structure and symptom weighting of the expert report with the classification system used in the Compendium, the first edition of the textbook published in 1883 by Gudden's long-time pupil Emil Kraepelin, provides insight into Gudden's school of thought. The experts' interpretation of Louis' illness is an outstanding document in the history of psychiatry. Even after the death of Louis and Gudden, the three remaining experts did not change their views before the parliamentary committees investigating the incident.

Conclusion: If we use the knowledge of the time as the basis for our assessment, there is no justification for claiming that Gudden and his fellow experts wrongly diagnosed Louis.

Keywords: Artificial world; Diagnosis; Expert opinion; Paranoia (madness); Removal from office.