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History of the Georg Groddeck Society
 
 
The Society was founded on 28 June 1986 and registered as a non-profit organisation with its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. The Society's objective: to disseminate Groddeck's oeuvre and edit the Groddeck Edition, to organise events related to Groddeck's works and on the history of psychosomatics and psychoanalysis. Dr. Wolfgang Groddeck, Otto Jägersberg and Professor Helmut Siefert were elected to the Board; Frieder Kern was appointed manager, and Ms. Margaretha Honegger was made an honorary member.
Groddeck's estate had been safeguarded by Ms. Margaretha Honegger (1899—1994), a former patient and later assistant of Groddeck's. At her initiative and with her as editor, the first volumes by Groddeck after the war were published during the 1960s. Ms Honegger bequeathed the estate, including the correspondence with Freud, to the Georg Groddeck Society in 1992.
In 1997 the Society sold the estate to the Deutsche Literaturarchiv in Marbach on the river Neckar, thus enabling it to be studied and made to a wider public. The proceeds go towards promoting the publication of the Groddeck Edition with Stroemfeld Verlag, Frankfurt am Main /Basel. An "Edition Committee" founded by the Society determines the publication of the individual volumes and the allocation of funds.
In Baden-Baden, Groddeck's place of work, the Society has installed a Groddeck Room in the Literary Memorial sections of the city library. In 1984, Otto Jägersberg together with Alfonso Hüppi and Eberhard Eckerle inaugurated the so-called "Es-Punkt" - an (underground) monument at that point in the Lichtental woods where the hut once stood in which Groddeck wrote Das Buch vom Es (The Book of the It).
In the Alte Dampfbad (Old Steam Bath) in Baden-Baden, two exhibitions on the life and work of Groddeck were mounted (1984 and 1996 with samples from Groddeck's estate) and coordinated with two art exhibitions: "Hommage a Groddeck", 1984 with Franz Eggenschwiler, Dieter Krieg, Helmut Schweizer, Andre Thomkins and Gottfried Wiegand; "Satanarium", 1996 with Diethart Blaudszun, Rainer Braxmaier, Johannes Hüppi and others. On Groddeck's 130 birthday in 1996, a "Small Psychoanalytical Lunch of 17 Courses" was served on the Bühlerhöhe in accordance with Groddeck's Slimming Diet at the Sanatorium Marienhöhe.
In June 1993 the Society organised a congress in Bad Nauheim entitled "Poesie der Krankheit - Paradoxie der Heilung" (The Poetry of Illness - the Paradox of Healing). Talks were given by, among others, Hans Müller-Braunschweig, Dieter Ohlmeier, Herbert Will, Mechthilde Kütenmeyer, Jaap Bos, Wolfram Groddeck, Tore Hakansson, Otto Jägersberg, Peter Lieck, Gerd Overbeck, Micky Remann, Hiltrud Rübner, Thomas Stölzel, Klaus Wiedemann, Frank Wolff, Tobias Back, Gerhard Danzer, György Hidas, Ellis Huber, Elke Dorothea Badur and Helmut Siefert, Hans Becker, George King, Helmut Milz (recordings of almost all the talks are available).
2009: To mark the 75th anniversary of Groddeck`s death, the Society organised the 4th symposium in Baden-Baden under the heading “Wege zum Es”. The speakers were Lazslo Àvila, Helga Elisa Böhler, Helmut Grosch, Galina Hristeva, Otto Jägersberg, Jochen Jordan, Walter H. Krause, Wolfgang Martynkewicz, Mark Poster, Beate Schuh, Jürgen Schulz, Helmut Siefert, Giancarlo Stòccoro and Marie-Luise Wünsche. A publication of the same name contains both papers and an introduction by Michael Giefer. The symposium included an exhibition held in the Alte Dampfbad of paintings by Alfonso Hüppi, “Aladins Lampe – Der Hafis-Zyklus”, and a speech given by Otto Jägersberg on “Goethe, Groddeck, Hafis, Hüppi”.
2011: The Society celebrated the 25th anniversary of its existence in Frankfurt. The invitation was sent using a special postage stamp. During the celebrations, Wolfram Groddeck spoke about Groddeck`s novella “Der Pfarrer von Langewiesche”, Claudia Honegger about her aunt, Margaretha Honegger, Beate Schuh illustrated “25 Jahre in 26 Bildern” (25 Years in 26 Images) using paper and cardboard, and Mathes Seidl and Egon Faessler (both of Zürich) read, and put to music, texts by Groddeck. For the first time, the Society honoured two of its members: Otto Jägersberg, for his multifaceted engagement for Groddeck and the Society; and Helmut Siefert for initiating and organising the 1st Groddeck-Symposium in 1986, and editing some Groddeck works in paperback, long before our edition was initiated. The jubilee brochure “25 Jahre Georg Groddeck-Gesellschaft” contains contributions by members and materials on the history of the Society from the Groddeck archives.
Apart from the Groddeck Edition, the following brochures were initiated or edited by the Society (available from the Society office):
- Hommage à Groddeck - art catalogue, ed. Otto Jägersberg, 1984.
- Otto Jägersberg: Dr. Georg Groddeck in Baden-Baden, 1991.
- Postcard file issued on the occasion of Groddeck's 130 birthday, 1996.
- Lectures of the Georg Groddeck Society: Auf dem Wege zu einer poetischen Medizin (On the Way to a Poetic Medicine, ed. Gerd Overbeck), 1996.
- Margaretha Honegger, Zur Erinnerung an das Ehrenmitglied (Margaretha Honegger, In Memory of the Honorary Member), 1996.
- Baden-Badener Symposien II: Georg Groddeck, 1997 (Baden-Baden Symposia II: Georg Groddeck, 1997).
- Wege zum Es (edited by M. Giefer, O. Jägersberg, W. H. Krause) 2010.
- 25 Jahre Georg Groddeck-Gesellschaft (edited by M. Giefer, O. Jägersberg, W. H. Krause) 2011.
 
The "Rundbrief Georg Groddeck-Gesellschaft", a circular issued as a rule twice a year, informs the members about the work of the Society. Every two years, a general meeting is held. The members elect the Board for a period of four years. The membership subscription is 50 EUR once per year.
The current members of the Board are Michael Giefer, Helmut Grosch and Doris Kern. Manager is Beate Schuh.
Postal address:
Georg Groddeck-Gesellschaft e.V.
Postfach 180294
60083 Frankfurt a.M.
Tel.: +49 6172 9 23 06 36
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