Das Bild zeigt Karl Reich sitzend auf einem Stuhl. Er sitzt vor einer großen hellen Wand. Er trägt einen dunklen Anzug mit Weste und hellem Hemd. Die Kette einer Taschenuhr ist sichtbar. Er hat kurze Haare und blickt mit leicht geöffnetem Mund Richtung Kamera. Seine Hände sind im Schoß gefaltet.

Karl Reich, around 1922.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/066 No. 08339.

KARL REICH (1885 – 1960)

Karl Reich from Hanover came from a middle-class family. He was almost deaf and left school without a degree. He began training as a bookbinder, but ran away. From then on, he struggled to get by and fell into poverty. In 1912, his mother had him admitted to the Lüneburg institution. On April 22, 1941, he was transferred to Herborn. On May 21, 1941, he was transferred to the Hadamar killing center, but was put on hold. He worked on the institution’s own farm in Schnepfenhausen for over a year and a half and was released on New Year’s Eve 1942. He died on April 12, 1960, in Ilten.

Die Denkschrift ist eng mit schwarzem dünnem Stift geschrieben. Seine Handschrift ist sehr gleichmäßig und nach rechts geneigt. Das Papier ist mittig gefaltet und gelocht.

Excerpt from Karl Reich’s memorandum dated February 2, 1922.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/066 No. 08339.

In 1922, Karl Reich wrote a memoir on the occasion of his ten-year stay at the Lüneburg institution and nursing home. In it, he describes his thoughts on his long stay. He was also inspired by Emil Kraepelin, whose book »Introduction to Psychiatry« he had read.