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Crime, Clairvoyance and the Weimar PoliceAuthor(s): Heather Wolffram

Source: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Oct., 2009), pp. 581-601Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40542978Accessed: 12-12-2015 02:32 UTC

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Journal

f

Contemporary istory opyright

©

2009 SAGE

Publications,

os

Angeles,

London,

New

Delhi,

Singapore

and

Washington

DC,

Vol

44(4),

581-601. ISSN 0022-0094.

DOI:

1

.1

177/0022009409339436

HeatherWolfram

Crime,

Clairvoyance

and the Weimar

Police

Abstract

DuringheWeimar ears,Germany'solice xperimentedith widerange

ofnew

echnologies

ndforensic

echniques. mong

hemore nusual

f

hese

was so-called

riminal

elepathy

Kriminaltelepathie):

he

practice

f

using

telepath

r

clairvoyant

o shed

ight

n unsolvedrimes.

lacing

he

mergence

of he

riminal

elepath

n

the ontext

f

nterwarrime nd

occultism,

ndthe

police

nterest

n

hese ccult

ractitioners

n

he ontextf

professionalization,

this rticle

maintainshat heWeimar

olice's

rief lirtation

ith

heoccult

was consistent

ith,

atherhan

ntagonistic

o,

heir ffortso

professionalize

through

cience.

his rticle lso

explores ontemporaryritiques

f his

rac-

tice,

rguing

hat he

bitter

olemicsgainst

riminal

elepathyy

men uch s

Albert

ellwig

ndAlbertMoll resultedrom heir elief hat he ctivitiesf

clairvoyants

ndangered

he laims f

criminalists,

urists

nd

psychiatrists

o

expertise

n

thenascent ields

f

criminology

nd

criminalistics.

Keywords:

rime,

riminology,ermany,ypnosis,

ccultism,

olice

In

October

921,

the

periodical

erman orester

Deutscher örster)

a

publication

ormally

edicated o matters

ertaining

o

forestry

featured

a peculiarrticlenvolving urdernd theoccult. tsauthor, Berlin-based

detective

amed

usdorf,

escribed

is

nvestigation

nto

hemurderf forest

warden

ear he mall axontown

f

Mügeln

n

May

1921. WhileBusdorfs

inquiry

ad

begun

n

predictable

ashion ith is

eam

onducting

search f

thehomes f ocal

poachers,

t tooka

surprising

urn fter he ase faltered

for ackof evidence.

lthough

he alibre

f

themurder

eapon,

7.65mm

pistol,

was

ascertained,

usdorf nd his teamwereunable o locateeither

trace

vidence,

uch

s fibres nd

footprints,

r

witnesses,

espite

he

offer

of a 3000-Mark

eward.1rustrated

y

thefailure f these tandard orensic

and

investigatory

easures,

he

prosecuting

ttorney

entword

to

Leipzig

summoninguiseDiederich, clairvoyant,ndMarieHessel,her ister nd

The researchfor and

writing

f this articlewere made

possible through

he Frances P. Bolton

Fellowship rovided

y

the

Parapsychology

oundation,

New

York,

nd the

upport

f the

Faculty

of Arts nd Social

Sciences t theNational

University

f

Singapore.

1 Heinrich

Hornung,

Die forensische

edeutung

es Hellsehens nd der

Gedankenübertragung',

Archiv

ür

Kriminologie

6

(1924),

262.






582

Journal

f

ContemporaryHistory

ol 44

No

4

hypnotist,ho hadostensiblynjoyeduccessnsimilarases.The detective

and the

prosecutingttorney

eldfour

ittings

ith he isters

n

which he

clairvoyant

iederich

rovided

detailed

escription

f the

circumstances

surrounding

he

murder,

art

of the

perpetrator's

ame,

he ocation f his

house,

nformationbouthis

accomplice

nd thewhereabouts

f themurder

weapon.2

n

investigation

f hese

laims,

tems

elonging

o thevictim

nd a

pistol

fthe ame alibre s themurder

eapon

were ound

n

the

possession

oftwo

poachers

matching

he

lairvoyant's

escription.

othmenwere

aken

into

ustody

o await rial

n

thedistrictourt.3

Busdorf

s

tale,

with tsmixturef

crime,

lairvoyance

nd modern

olicing

techniques,as byno meansuniqueduringheWeimar epublic. o-called

criminal

elepathsKriminaltelepathen)

those ndividuals hose

lairvoy-

ant

powers utatively

llowed hem

nsight

ntocriminal

cts

-

began

to

appear

n

Germanyollowing

918,

seemingly aterializing

rom he

ocial,

economic nd

political

ubble eft

n

thewake of thewar and

revolution.4

While he

magnetic

omnambulesnd

spiritualist

ediums f the

nineteenth

century

ad on occasion itillatedheir

udiences

ith he

details f criminal

acts,

t was notuntil he nterwar

eriod

hat ccultists

egan

o

specialize

n

detectionnd that he uthorities

egan

o takemore han

punitive

nterest

in

this nd

other

ccult

ractices.5

t

is

clear,

ot

only

from rticles

n

con-

temporaryewspapersndperiodicalsuch s theGerman orester,ut lso

from herecords f

policedepartmentshroughout

russia

nd a number f

otherGerman

tates,

hat hese

newly merged

ccult riminalists'

estered

the

police, ombarding

hemwith nsolicitednformationnd offers

f

help.

In

a 1921 doublemurderase

n

Heidelberg,

or

xample,

he

police

nd the

prosecuting

ttorney

eceived o

many

ffers

f

occult ssistance

hat

hey

feared

mportant

vidence ould

disappear

n

the ime

pent ollowing

hem

2 Ibid.,263.

3

Ibid.,

266.

4

Criminal

telepathy ppears

to have been a

largely

German

phenomenon.

n

England,

for

example,

s the

Society

or

Psychical

Research old the German

urist

Albert

Hellwig,

therewere

no well-attestedases of criminal

elepathy.

ee Letter rom he

Society

or

Psychical

Research o

Albert

Hellwig,

18

July

924,

Nachlaß Albert

Hellwig

10/4Hellsehen

llgemein.Korrespondenz,

1919-1929,

Institut

ür

Grenzgebiete

er

Psychologie

nd

Psychohygiene

hereafter

GPP).

The

English sychical

esearcher

arry

Price

noted,however,

hat herewere

smallnumber f

English

dowserswho used their alents o locate bodies and stolen

goods:

see

Harry

Price,

Fifty

ears

of

Psychical

Research:

A

Critical

urvey

London

1939),

222.

In

England,

he

problem ppears

to

have been the retention f old witchcraft

aws,

which

prevented

ccultists rom

etting p

in

busi-

ness

n

the manner

hey

did

in

Germany.

lexandraLembert's

work,however,

as demonstrated

that

lairvoyant

etectives id feature

uiteprominently

n

English

etective iction. ee Alexandra

Lembert,

"Thoughts

are

Things": Magical

Objects, Objective

Magic

and Sax Rohmer's The

Dream Detective

1920)',

in

Elmar Schenkel nd StefanWelz

(eds),

Magical

Objects:

Things

nd

Beyond

Berlin 007),

127-44.

5

On the

lairvoyance

f

magnetic

omnambulistsnd

spiritualist

ediums,

ee Adam

Crabtree,

FromMesmer o Freud:

Magnetic leep

and theRoots

of Psychological

Healing

New

Haven, CT,

andLondon

993),172-8,

13-29.






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the Weimar olice

583

up.6While he raditionalesponsef thepolice osuchoccult hicaneryad

been o

prosecute

ts

practitioners

or raud

r,

n

the outhern

tates,

nclud-

ing

Baden,

avaria

nd

Hesse,

o

charge

hemwith

harlatanry

Gaukelei),

he

interwar

eriod

witnessed

strange

ollision fdetection

nd

the

ccultwhich

led

police

orces

n

everal ermantates o

carry

ut estswith

lairvoyants

n

an efforto establish

heir

fficacy

n

thenascent

ield

f

forensics.7

lthough

by

ny

tatistical

easure heuse of criminal

elepaths y

theWeimar

olice

was

nsignificant,

he ierce

ritiques

f

ts nclusion

n

the riminalist's

rsenal

suggest

hat ccult

detection

omplicated

nd

competed

ith he claims f

otherso

epistemic

uthority

nd

professionalompetency

n

the rea

of

rime

and detection.hestudy fthis trangehenomenon,herefore,ightffer

thehistorian new

perspective

n

the

epistemological

nd

methodological

tensions

urrounding

he

professionalization

f

policing

nd

allied fields

n

interwar

ermany.

Busdorfs

article,

ike hose

riefly

entioned

yHis-Huey

iang

n

hiswork

on the

Berlin

olice uring

heWeimar

epublic

nd

by

Patrick

Wagner

n

his

history

f theGerman riminal

olice

n

the nterwarnd

National ocialist

eras,

rovides

n

intriguinglimpse

ftheWeimar

olice's

lirtationith he

occult nd

poses

a number f

nterestinguestions.

What,

or

nstance,

as

itthat riminal

elepathsctually

id?What etof

circumstances

recipitatedtheir

mergence

ollowing

hefirst orldwar?How shouldwe

interpret

he

use

of hese ccult

ractitionersy

he

police?

And

why

idcertain

ontempo-

rary

ritics ecome o

enraged

oth

by

he ctivities

fcriminal

elepaths

nd

their

ortrayal

n

the

press?

A

small

group

f historians

orking

n thehis-

tory

fcrime nd

policing

nd the

history

foccultism

n

theGerman

ontext

have

gone

ome

way

owards

ddressing

hese

uestions. iang,

or

xample,

cites he

repeated ttempts

f

theBerlin

olice

o

employ

riminal

elepaths

andassess heir orensic

tility

s

evidence

f

heforce's esire o

keep

breast

of

changing

astes,

ashionsnd

technologies.8

hat

Liang

points

o

here

re

not nly he ffortsf heBerlinolice oforgeetterelations ith hepublic

through

reater

olerance

nd

n

some

asesutilizationf

popular

ulture,

ut

also

their

doption

f he atest

echniques

nd

technologies,ncludingutative

occult

etection,

s

a

markerf

ncreasingrofessionalism.9

imilarly,

agner

connectshe

police

nterest

n

criminal

elepathy

ith

heuse of

nascent ech-

6

Angelika

Brieschke,

'Ein so

klägliches

Bild

ist

von

keinem

Kriminaltelepathen

ekannt",

Ein

Hellseher-Prozess

n

Württemberg

n

den 1920er

Jahren',

unpublished

MPhil

dissertation,

University

f

Tübingen,

001,

61.

7

In

some German

tates,

most

notably

Bavaria,

Baden and

Hesse,

occultists

aced

prosecution

under

o-called

Gaukelei

(charlatanry)

aws,

which stated

that

anyone

who

accepted money

or

gifts

or ccultservices ould be fined r

imprisoned.

n other

tates,

ncluding

russia,

ccultists

tendedto be

charged

with

fraud,

conviction

for

which

depended

on

proving

he

defendant's

bad faith. ee

Albert

Hellwig,

Hellsehen ls strafbare

aukelei',

Archiv

ür trafrecht

1

(1926),

125.

8

His-Huey

Liang,

'The Berlin Police and the

Weimar

Republic', Journal

of

Contemporary

History

(4) (1969),

160.

9

Ibid.,

159-61.






584

Journal

f

ContemporaryHistory

ol 44

No

4

nologies. e argues or he xistencef deep-seatedmbivalencen thepart

of

many

Weimar

riminalists

bout he ransitionrom

raditional

olice

work,

with tsreliance n

witnesses,

o those

newforms

f

detectionnd dentifica-

tion

dependent

n arcane orensic ethods.10

agner

maintainshat

nterest

in

and debate ver riminal

elepathy

as a

strange

xcrescencefthis

ncer-

tainty

bout cientific ethodsf dentification.11

n

this

way,

hework

fboth

Liang

nd

Wagneruggests

hat hebrief ascinationf heWeimar

olice

with

criminal

elepathy ight

e bestunderstood

n

the ontext f

their

ursuit

f

professional

tatus

hrough

oth

echnological

nd theoreticalnnovation.

Those cholars ith n interest

n

the

history

f German

ccultism,

field

thathasonly ecentlyscapedts arly reoccupationith he ccult oots f

nazism o reveal he

ultural,

olitical

nd ocial

plasticity

f hemodern ccult

movement,

ave tudiedhe

uestions osedby

riminal

elepathy

n

omewhat

more

depth

hanhistoriansf crime nd

policing.12ngelika

rieschke,

or

example,

n

her

nalysis

f the1924-6 trial f the

private

etectiveriedrich

Gern

n

Württembergegards

he

mergence

fcriminal

elepathy

n

nterwar

Germany

s the esult f collision etweenwo

ontemporary

iscourses:

hat

which

rgued

or he cientifictatus foccultismndthatwhich

romoted

he

young iscipline

f

criminology.13riminology,

he

maintains,

as still

pen

to new nd

cientificallynproven

ethods

uring

he

arly

wentieth

entury;pragmatismlaying decisive olein determininghich echniques ere

adopted

nd maintained.

n

this

ontext,

rieschke

rgues,many

nnovations

in

police

cience,

ncludingingerprinting

nd blood

group

nalysis,

eemed s

mysterious

s criminal

elepathy

hen

hey

were irstntroduced.14oroccult-

ists,

s Brieschke

hows,

his

pragmatism

nabled rhetorical

trategy

hat

likened he riminal

elepath

o the

policedog.

While ccultistsonceded hat

themechanism

hrough

hich riminal

elepathsained nsight

ntounsolved

10 Patrick

Wagner,Volksgemeinschaft

hne

Verbrecher.

onzeptionen

nd Praxis der

Kriminalpolizei

n

der eitderWeimarer

epublik

nd

des

Nationalsozialismus

Hamburg

996),

101-2.

11

Ibid.,

02.

12

Thosehistorians ho took n interest

n

German ccultism

uring

he

1950s,

1960s and

1970sfocused n the ntellectualndmaterialinks etween

riosophy,

form frace ccultism

developed

n

Austria

y

LanzvonLiebenfelsndGuido on

List,

nd henascent SDAP.

ee,

or

example, eorge

.

Mosse,

The

Mystical rigins

fNational

ocialism',

ournal

f

the

History

of

deas

22

(1961), 81-96;

Wilhelm

aim,

Der

Mann,

erHitler

ie

deen

gab.Jörg

anz

von

Liebenfels,

rdedn

Vienna 994).

During

he

1980s,however,

icolasGoodrick-Clarke's

tudy

ofthe ccult oots fnazism emonstratedow enuous hese inkswere: ee NicolasGoodrick-

Clarke,

he OccultRoots

f

Nazism.

ecret

ryan

ults nd their

nfluence

n

Nazi

Ideology.

The

Ariosophistsf

Austria nd

Germany,

890-1935

New

York

1985).

This reassessment

allowed new

eneration

fhistoriansoconsider ermanccultism ore

roadly

nd o

explore

itssocial, ultural ndpolitical lasticity.ee,for xample, iethardawicki, ebenmitden

Toten:

Geisterglauben

nd

die

Entstehung

es

Spiritismus

n

Deutschland,

770-1900

Munich

2002);

Corinna

reitel,

Science

or

he oul:Occultismnd

theGenesis

f

he

German odern

(Baltimore

nd

London

004);

Priska

ytlik,

kkultismusndmoderne: in

kulturhistorisches

Phänomen

nd

eine

edeutungür

ieLiteratur

m

1900

Munich 005).

13

Brieschke,

Klägliches

ild',

p.

cit.,

9.

14

Ibid.,

0.






Wolfram:

Crime,

lairvoyance

nd the

Weimar olice

585

crimes asunclear,hey rgued hat he ame ouldbe said for he bilityf

police

ogs

o follow

cent

rails. his

gnorance,

ccultists

ere

uick

o

point

out,

did

not exclude

olice

dogs

from he

nvestigatoryrocess

nd

neither

should

t

disqualify

he

riminal

elepath.15

rieschke's

rgument,

herefore,

s

that,

n

the

bsence f a

definitive

cientifictatement

n the ranscendental

abilities f

thehuman

mind,

twas

reasonable ot

only

or

ccultists,

ut

lso

for

riminologists,

urists, olice

officersnd

psychologists

o consider he

possible

eality

nd

utility

fcriminal

elepathy.16

Corinna

Treitel,

hose recent

istory

f German

ccultism as demon-

strated

he

flexibility

f occult

elief nd

practice

yhighlighting

ts

multiple

links o modernistndprogressiveulture s well s socialconservatismnd

reactionaryolitics,

as treated

riminal

elepathy

s an occultdouble

of

applied

ciences

uch s

criminology

nd

psychology.17

ike

Brieschke,

he

has

argued

hat

uring

he nterwar

eriod

henew

forensicerrain ad no

clearly

established

oundaries,

ccreditation

rocedures

r

corporate

dentity,

nd

that

ublic

ressure

n the

olice

o solve

rimes

y ny

means

hatworkeded

to a

pragmatism

hat

riefly

nabled riminal

elepathy

nd modern

methods

ofdetection

o coexist.18

reitellso

points

o the

flipside

f

this

trangeegal-

occult

ymbiosis,

hich aw

many

riminal

elepaths

rosecuted

orfraud.

Such

rials,

he

rgues,

owever,

ften idmore o

promote

riminal

elepathy

than

hey

idto dissuadehepolice nd thepublic romtsuse.19

The

picture

hich

merges

rom he

historiography

f crime nd

policing,

as

well s that f

modern

ccultism,

s that

ollowing

hefirst orldwar

n

Germany

mbivalence,

cientific

ncertainty,ragmatism

nd the ack

of

rigid

professional

r

disciplinary

oundaries

ithin he

fields f

criminology

nd

forensics

emporarily

reated

space

n

which riminal

elepathy

ouldbe seri-

ously

onsidered

ypolice,

riminologists

nd

urists.

n

this rticle intend o

build n

this

nalysis, roviding

brief

escription

f criminal

elepathy

nd

the ircumstances

nder hich t

merged

n

order o consider

he seof rimi-

naltelepathsy heWeimarolice. will rgueess, sWagneroes, hat his

dalliance

ith he ccult

ignalled

cientific

ncertainty

nd mbivalence

bout

technology

y

Weimar

riminalists,

nd

more hat heuse of

clairvoyantsy

theGerman

olice

ormed

art

f heir

mbrace fnew

echnologies

nd

cien-

tific

echniques

n

pursuit

f

professional

tatus.20

n

the

arly ostwar

ears,

maintain,

he cientific

tatus f

clairvoyance

nd

telepathy

emained

paque;

in

fact t was

by

no means lear hat ccult

nd scientific

nowledge

ould

prove

rreconcilable.s Brieschke

nd Treitel ave

hown,

ragmatism

ften

15

Ibid.,

56-8.

16

Ibid.,

60.

17

Treitel,

cience

for

he

Soul,

op.

cit.,

132-40.

18

Ibid., 144-6,

154.

19

Ibid.,

148-9.

20 On the Weimar

police's adoption

of the latest

technology,

ee Richard

Bessel,

Policing,

Professionalisation

nd Politics

n Weimar

Germany',

n

Clive

Emsley

nd

Barbara

Weinberger

(eds),

Policing

Western

urope.

Politics,

Professionalism,

nd Public

Order,

1850-1940

(New

York

1991),

196.






586

Journal

f

ContemporaryHistory

ol

44

No

4

dictatedheuseof forensicechniquesndtechnologieshathad not under-

gone

cientific

erification,

utwhich

ppeared

o work.

n

this

ontext,

hen,

the

utilization

f criminal

elepathy

as consistent

ith,

ather

han

ntago-

nistic o the Weimar

olice's

ffortst

professionalizationhrough

cience.

Indeed,

riminalists'ventual ismissal foccultisms a forensicool

appears

to have been result f

clairvoyance's

ack of

utility

ather

han ts ack of

scientificerification.

t was this cientific

eficit,owever,

n which ontem-

porary

ritics

ocused,

ambasting

ot

only

heuse of criminal

elepathy

nd

its

bedfellow,

ay

hypnosis,

ut lso

ts ensationalnd

naccurate

ortrayal

n

the

press.

uch

ritiques,

will

rgue,

were he ecourse fthose

rofessionals

whose laims oepistemicuthoritynthenascent ields fcriminologynd

forensics ere hreatened

y

criminal

elepaths.

he aim of

their verblown

discourse n the

dangers

f criminal

elepathy

as thus

o

make olidthose

professional

nd

disciplinary

oundaries

hat,

however

riefly,

ad

enabled

criminal

elepaths

o

claim

xpertise

n

and

authority

ver rime.

The term

criminal

elepathy'Kriminaltelepathie),

s

it came

o

be used

n

Germany uring

he

nterwar

eriod,

eferredo the

practice

f a

medium,

normally

nder he

guidance

f a

hypnotist,tilizing

heir

lairvoyantower

in

order o shed

ight

n an unsolved rime.

n

a state f

trance,

hemedium

was

asked

by

the

hypnotist

r

by

n audience o relatewhathe or she

could

seeofthematter ndernvestigation.hese ueriesended oresultna series

of

rance

peeches

n

which he

medium,

ften

ssuming

he ole fthe

victim,

perpetrator

r

witness,

escribed he circumstances

urrounding

he crime.

These

utterances

ypicallyrovided

mixturef

quite

pecific

nd

very ague

information,

ncludingmpressionistic

limpses

fthe

cene f

crime,

escrip-

tions f criminals'

ewellery

nd

clothing

nd the ocation f

hidden

odies

and

stolen

oods.

The

stage lairvoyant

alther

öpfner's

iscourse

n

the

experiences

f reluctant itness

n

a 1925 case

nvolving

he

desecrationf

corpse rovides good

example

f uch rance

utpourings:

What'sthat

you say?

A

woman on her

way.

hear beautiful

ells

ringing.

here re

graves.

A

cross,

monument,

n

angel

There a man. Mother

has

frightened

erself.

ou

need have no

fear.Mother

ays

so. You

know what the man looks like. You have known

for

long

time

already

nd shouldhave

ong ago reported

t He does

nothing

o

you.

You are 65

years

ld

. . .

You

are called

Vierwig, iehrig, ou

live on a

streetwith9

letters

after

pparent

tudy)

Görlitzer

treet,

t s a

big

man,

a

big

bastard,

he is no

longer

here.

Now

you

can

say

it,

he

carried

big

sack

in front f his

body

-

grey

uit he is

44,

39-50

years

old ...

-

hair

white n the

ide,

thendark

-

he was

in

Leipzig,

but did not

study

brown eather

hoes,

has a

gold

watch,

gold

tooth,

no

ring,

wide

fingernails.

is wifedoes not know.21

Höpfner'snsights,onveyed

o hisaudience

n

an

exaggeratedtage

whis-

per

whilehewasina

hypnotic

rance, ere

undoubtedly

ramatic,ut ome

criminal

elepaths

ook an evenmore

performativepproach

o theirwork.

These

lairvoyants

ed their

mployers

n

dramatichases

hrough

ity

treets

21

Auszug

aus den Akten

der Staatsanwaltschaft autzen

wegen Betruges

tA

III

10I8/25.

Kriminal-Postenb 650/25. Nachlaß Albert

Hellwig

10/4Hellsehen/Fall

Höpfner',

GPP.






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the

Weimar olice

587

insearch fmissing oodsorpersons,rowds fcurious nlookersollowing

in

their

ake.Thiswas the

tyle

f

clairvoyantnvestigation

avoured

y

the

medium

lsa

Günther-Gethers,

ho

n

a somnambulistictate aced

hrough

alleys

nd

tenements,

iming

nd

gesticulating

n

order o ndicatehe

ppear-

anceand

occupation

f the

riminalf whom hewas

in

pursuit.22

n

March

1923,

for

xample,

n entranced

ünther-Gethersalkedwith

losed

eyes

over

ladder,

ver

pile

of

scrap

metal nd

through

hree ifferenttreets

n

search f the

person

who had stolen lour

nd

sugar

rom raude la Chaux

ofTilsit.23

n

anotherase

n

Königsberg,

here he

police

had beenunable o

find he

erson

esponsible

or

tealing

hoes nd

aundry

rom hePreukschat

family,ünther-Gethersas asked o investigate.allingnto trancenthe

victims'

ome,

he retraced

hethief's

teps

until he reached

unker

treet,

where he

noise fthe rowd

who had

gathered

o watchherworkwoke

her

from er rance.

arly

henext

morning,

ithouthedistractionf he

rowd,

Günther-Gethers

epeated

er omnambulistic

nvestigation,

his ime

walking

to a house

n Polnischen

treet,

here he

grabbed

oldofthewomanwithin

and

declared er he hief.24

Other riminal

elepaths,

ncluding

he isters iederichnd

Hessel,

ended

to

prefer

more edate

pproach.

While

n

somecases

theymight

nsist

n

visiting

he cene

f

crime,

hey

were

ust

s

likely

o

prefer

he

quiet

of

the

séance oom,which acked hedistractionsf the

tage

r the treet.

sing

darkened

omestic

pace

uch

s a

parlour,

uch

lairvoyants

ed ff he

nergy

of

the

éance

ircle,

ften

sing

n

object

elonging

o thevictim s a means

of

accessing

nformation

bout he rime.

uring

usdorf's

nvestigation

nto

themurder

f he

Mügeln

orest

arden,

or

xample, sitting

as held

n

the

murdered an's

home

during

hich he

hypnotized

iederich escribedhe

victim's

ast moments.

lairvoyantlyccompanying

hedoomedforestern

his ast

patrol,

iederich

elayed

is

discovery

f two

bicycles

t a crossroad

andhisfirst

limpse

f he wo

middle-aged

en

whowouldmomentsater

ill

him.Turninger ttentiono the woperpetrators,hemedium hen elated

both heir onversation

nd their

anicked

ide o a

nearby illage

where

hey

hidone

oftheir

uns.25

While heirmethods

f

nvestigationay

have

differed,

uring

heWeimar

years

riminal

elepaths

f

every

lk

became mbroiled

n

cases

ranging

rom

petty

heft

o abduction nd murder. he

hypnotist

aul

Hildebrecht,

or

example,

sed

hismedium

n 1924

to advise ne FrauBartel f

Bernburg

hat

a

womannamedGrete öhland

ad

stolen er

gold

necklace. he

medium,

Hildebrecht's

ife,

escribedhe

hief,

oting

hat he

had

wrapped

heneck-

lace

n

paper

nd hidden

t

n

the utermost

ompartment

fher

handbag.26

n

22 Rudolf

ambert,

Der

Insterburger

rozeß

gegen

die

Hellseherinrau

Günther-Geffers',

Zeitschriftür arapsychologie

(4) (1929),

232-3.

23 Ibid.

24

Ibid.,

34.

25

Hornung,

Bedeutung',p.

cit.,

67.

26

Albert

Hellwig,

Okkultismus nd Verbrechen.ine

Einführung

n die kriminalis-






588

Journal

f

ContemporaryHistory

ol

44

No

4

1922,the amehypnotistnformedheparentsf a missingoddler hat heir

child ad been bducted

ygypsies.

he

boy,

whohad been

itting

n

the treet

crying,

ad been omforted

y gypsy

omanwho

placed

him n

her

wagon.

Hildebrecht

laimed hat he hildwas

unharmednd wouldbe

found

n

the

company

f

gypsies

t a horsemarket

n

Güsten.27

apital

rimesuch s mur-

derwere lso

nvestigatedy

riminal

elepathsuring

his

eriod.

hese

ases,

likemurder

ases

n

general

nd exualmurders

Lustmord)

n

particular,

ere

often

ortrayed

n

sensationalashion

n

the

ress.28

n

March

921,

for xam-

ple,

he

Deutsche

llgemeineeitung

arriedhe

tory

f

he

hypnotistugust

Drost,

who aidedthe

Bernburgolice

n

their

ttempt

o

explain

hemurder

of a shoemaker's ife.Accordingo this rticle, rost and hishypnotized

medium,

ho were

ccompanied

y

he

police

ommissioner,

ouched vari-

ety

f

objects

elonging

o thevictim

n

order

lairvoyantly

o reconstruct

he

circumstanceshich ad ed he hoemakero

murder is

pouse.29imilarly

n

1925,

the

Magdeburger

eneral-

nzeiger eported

hat he riminal

elepath

Höpfner

ad

provided

rucialnformationn

the

isappearance

nd

murderf

a

bellhop

t Berlin's aféVaterland.30

ccording

o the

paper,

hemedium

ad

informedhe

young

man's atherhat e had

been ttacked

y

wo

ssailants,

whohad killed

im

nd buried is

body

n

a shallow

rave

ear

lake.31

Although

he

exploits

f

mediumsuch s

Höpfner,

ünther-Gethersnd

Diederichrovide picturefwhat riminalelepathyas and thevariety

of

ways

n

which t was

practised,hey

ail

o

highlight

hehistorical

ircum-

stances

n

which his orm f occult

nvestigation

ook

place.

These

ontexts,

the

first

f

whichwas interwar

rime,

will

be

brieflyxplored

ere.While

historians

ave

ended

o

argue

or hemodernizationf crime ince he ate

eighteenthentury

as

representedy

the ransitionrom iolent

rimes o

those

gainst roperty

the

era

mmediately

ollowing

hefirst orldwar

appears

o have been n

exception

o

this ule.32

n

the

years

fter

918,

as

Richard essel nd others ave

demonstrated,

ermanyxperienced

surge

inboth iolentndpropertyrime, resultfthe conomic,ocial ndpoliti-

tischenProbleme des

Okkultismus

für

Polizeibeamte,Richter, taatsanwälte,

Psychiater

nd

Sachverständige

Berlin 929),

55-6.

27

Ibid.,

57.

28 On the

portrayal

f

sexual violence

during

he

Weimar

Republic,

ee Maria

Tatar,

ustmord:

Sexual Murder n Weimar

Germany

Princeton,

J,

1995).

29

Hornung, Bedeutung', p.

cit.,

256.

30

'Der tote

Page. Aufklärung

urch einen Hellseher '

Magdeburger

General-

nzeigers,

5

October

1925,

Nachlaß Albert

Hellwig

10/4Hellsehen/Fall

öpfner,

GPP.

31

The

story

un

by

the

Magdeburger

Gener l-

Anzeiger

urned ut to

be a mixture

f

exaggera-

tion nd fabrication. he

bellhop's

ather ad notsought utHöpfner, utwas informed our

ays

after he

discovery

f

the

body

that he

ocation

of the

corpse

had been mentioned

n

a

spiritualist

séance. Bericht

es

Polizeipräsidiums

erlin.

Abteilung

V.

Berlin /12/25.

achlaß Albert

Hellwig

10/4Hellsehen/Fall

öpfner,

GPP.

32 For a

good historiographical

verview f themodernization f crime

hesis,

ee

Clive

Emsley,

Crime,

Police and Penal

Policy: European Experiences,

1750-1940

(Oxford

and New

York

2007).






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the Weimar olice

589

cal turmoilhat lagued he arlyRepublic.33omplaintsffirstnd second

degree

murder

n

Berlin,

or

xample,

ad numbered46

n

1911,

but limbed

to 219

in

1922 and 637

in

1924.

4

National tatisticslso

reflectedhis

urge

in

violent

rime,

ith onvictionsor

remeditated

urdert 17

per

100,000

in

1911-13 and at

41

per

100,000

n

1920-4.35 olitical

rime,

n

particular

political

murder,

lso

grew apidly.

s the

Republic

tabilized,

owever,

o

too

did themurder

ate;but,

s historiansuch s Sace

Elder nd Peter ritzsche

have

pointed

ut,

he

endency

f theWeimar

ress

o sensationalize urder

caseswell

beyond

heir tatistical

ignificanceave

he

mpression

hat iolent

crime emainedife.36

PropertyrimenGermanylsoexperiencedignificantrowthntheyears

immediatelyollowing

he

war,

eaching

ts

peak

n

the

hyperinflationear

f

1923. Demobilizationnd inflationed to a

doubling

r

trebling

f theft

n

many

rban reas ndto the

pread

f rime o the

ountryside,

here oldiers

and

hungryity

wellerstole

food,

nimals nd

clothing.37

gain,

national

statisticshow this ncrease

learly.

n

the

period

1911-14

convictionsor

simple

heft ere

171,

serious heft

2,

robbery

.5,

fraud nd embezzlement

65 and

swindling

3

per

100,000.

n

the

period

920-4

convictionsor

imple

theft ere

23,

serious heft

4,

robbery

.9,

fraud nd

embezzlement7 and

swindling

2

per

1

00,000.

8

Organized

rime lso became

more

revalent,

s

urban

gangs Ringvereine)

obilized o orchestrateacketsn

prostitution,

pornography,ambling

nd

burglary.39

hile he

press,

opular

fiction nd

film

might

ave

given

he

mpression

hat he

Republic

was under

iegeby

a

host f murderersnd

gangsters,

t was

everyday

rimes uch

s

petty

heft,

as

confirmed

y

the

statistics,

hathad

made the mostdirect

mpact pon

ordinary

ermans;40

fter

ll,

their conomic

urvival as

largely ependent

on the etentionftheir

roperty

nd

possessions

uring

he

years

efore he

stabilizationftheMark.41

The

arge

umbersf

thefts,

s

well

s the

urge

n

nterpersonal

nd

politi-

calviolencehat ccompaniedhe ndofhostilitiesnGermany,tretchedhe

33

Bessel,

Policing,

rofessionalizationnd

Polities',

p

cit.,

93-4.

34 Statistisches

ahrbuch

er tadt

erlin, 923,

1924 and

1925,

uoted

n

Sace

Elder,Murder,

DenunciationndCriminal

olicing

n

Weimar

erlin',

ournalf

Contemporaryistory

1

2006),

412.

Richard essel lso

notes hat

onvictions

or

murder

uring

he

arly

920s

were

oughly

twice hose f

he

years

mmediatelyreceding

hewar:

Bessel,

Policing,


Polities',

p.

cit.,

94.

35 EricA.

Johnson,

rbanization

nd Crime:

ermany,

871-1914

New

York

995),

127.

36 Sace

Elder,

Murder cenes: riminal iolence

n

thePublic

Culture nd

Private ivesof

Weimar

erlin',

npublished

hD

dissertation,

niversity

f

llinois,

rbana-Champaign,

002,

4,

25;

Peter

ritzsche,

eading

erlin 900

Cambridge,

A,

nd London

996),

159.

37 Richard essel,

ermanyfter

he irstWorldWarOxford 993), 44-5.

38

Johnson,

rbanization,

p.

cit.,

36.

39 Anton

aes,

M

(London 000),

50-1.

40 Sara

Hall,

Open

Your

yes

ublic

rdering

ndthe

Policing

aze',

Modernism/Modernity

15(2)

2008),277-8;

Sara

Hall,

Trading

laces:Dr.

Mabuse nd thePleasure f Role

Play',

The

German

uarterly

6(4) 2003),

381-97.

41

Elder,Murder,

enunciation',

p.

cit.,

06.






590

Journal

f

ContemporaryHistory

ol

44

No

4

Weimar oliceto capacity.n the mmediateostwar eriod hedepletion,

disorganization

nd

underfunding

f aw enforcement

n

many arts

f the

Republic

reated he

mpression

f

police mpotence

n

theface f this arce-

nous

onslaught.42

n

this

ontext,

here

hevictims f

crime,

articularly

f

theft,

elieved

hey

were

unlikely

o achieve

satisfactory

utcome

hrough

a

police nvestigation,

utwhere

tolen tems

might lay significant

ole

n

economic

urvival,

here

as an

opportunity

or hosewith hewherewithalo

fill

hedemand otmet

by

the

police.

Thosecriminal

elepaths

ho took

up

this

hallenge

ere

not,

s

reports

n

the

pressmight

ave

uggested,rima-

rily

r even

frequently

nvolved

n

murder

ases; ndeed,

hey

were

nly ery

occasionallynvolvednpolice nvestigationst all.Thebulk f heir usiness,

which erived

rom hosemembersf he

ublic

whohad

failed o achieve at-

isfaction

hrough

n official

nvestigation

r had

avoided he

police ltogether,

involved rimes

gainst roperty;

ainly

he heft f tems uch s

jewellery,

bicycles

nd cash.While mall

hings

n

themselves,

uch temswere ndoubt-

edly mportant

s a bulwark

gainst

conomic uin

uring

he

arly

920s.

Like their

ustomers,

hose

people

who became riminal

elepaths

ur-

ing

the

Weimar

eriod

were

frequently

otivated

y

financial

esperation.

The criminal

elepath

ünther-Geffers,

or

xample,

s herdefence ounsel

Richard

Winterbergxplained uring

er1927 trial or

raud,

first

egan

he

professionalvaluationfher aranormalbilitiess a result f lossof ssets

during

he nflation'.43er

success s a criminal

elepath,

owever,

as such

that hecontinuedo

pursue

his

rofession

ven fter he tabilization

fthe

Mark.This

was a

pattern

hatwas

repeated

n

the ife tories f

a

significant

number

f occult

ractitioners,ncluding

athilde

Gern,

rik-Jan

anussen

and

Erich

Möckel,

whoall usedoccultism

o some xtents a means f

scap-

ingpoverty.

n

so

doing,

owever,

hese

avvy

ccultists erenot

only

aking

advantage

f he

pportunities

ffered

y

nterwar

rime,

conomic

nstability

and the ackof

confidence

n

Germany's

ver-taxed

olice

forces,

ut lso of

the ontemporaryascinationith he ccult.

The modern

ccultmovement

merged

n

Germany,

s

elsewhere,

uring

themid-nineteenth

entury, anifesting

ot

only

n

the

revival f occult ci-

ences,

uch s

astrology,almistry

nd

Rosicrucianism,

ut lso

in

thebirth

of new forms

f occult

knowledge

nd

practice,

ncludingpiritualism

nd

Theosophy.44

hile

historians ave

traditionally

egarded

his

movements

evidence f a

late-nineteenth-century

flight

rom eason'

r crisis f

faith',

often

inking

t

with

olitical

onservatismnd

racism,

more ecent ork

n

several ational ontexts

as

suggested

hat he attraction

f occultism or

groups

rom cross he

social and

political pectrum

as

its

flexibility

nd

42

Elder,

Murder

cenes',

p.

cit.,

3.

43 Richard

Winterberg,

Der

nsterburgerellseherprozeß',

eitschrift

ür

arapsychologie

(7)

(1928),

17.

44 On themodem ccult

movement

ee,

for

xample,

ames

Webb,

he Occult

Underground

(La Salle,

L, 1974);

James

Webb,

heOccult stablishment

La Salle,

L, 1976).






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the Weimar olice

59

1

practicalityn the face of the ncreasingomplexityfmodern ife.45his

malleability

nd

pragmatism

as

apparent

n

the

ncrease

n

occult

practice

that ccurred

n

Germanyollowing

he irst orld

war,

t

which ime t erved

to maintain onnections ith he war

dead,

predict

conomic,

ocial and

political

vents nd

provide

vehicle or

hose

piritual

nd moral

beliefs o

longer

ustainable

ithin

raditionalrameworks.

ay

Winternd

others ave

linked his

arly wentieth-centuryurge

n

occultism,

articularlypiritualism,

to

practices

f

memorializationnd

mourning

n

thewake of the

Great

War,

but here re other

xplanations

or hisOccultwave'.46

reitel,

or

xample,

argues

hat he

pre-war

ure f occultism ecame ven

more

ompelling

fter

1918 as traditionalources fauthority,ostparticularlyhe church nd

the

state,

were alled

nto

question y

Germany's

efeat nd the

turbulent

transition

o

democracy.47

Whateverheultimateause of this

occultwave'

-

probably complex

combinationf mass

grief,

conomic

eprivation

nd

perceived

moral nd

philosophical

ecline there

merged

n

nterwar

ermany

thriving

arket

for

ccult

ervices,

hichwas met

y

both

easoned ccultistsndthose

whose

precarious

inancialituation

ad edthem o

occultisms a means f

urvival.

Muchofwhatwas on offer

n

this ccult

marketplace

as

familiar;

lairvoy-

ant

eadings

ndfaith

ealing,

or

nstance,

ere

nothing

ew,

ut ome ccult

practitionersave hese ervices modernwist,making se,for xample,f

themassmedia

nd

the

ncreasingly

fficient

ostal

ervice

o

expand

heir

clientele. ther

ccultists,

aking

dvantage

f the

contemporary

elief hat

science nd rational

lanning

ould solve

pressing

ocial

ssues,

ound hat

there as

profit

o be made

n

creating

ccult

lternativeso thenew

pplied

sciences. ccult

raphology,

or

xample, ompeted

ith cientific

raphology

in

the ield f

pplied sychology,

hile

owsing

fferedn alternative

o more

traditional eans f

ocating

ater nd minerals

n

the

reas of

engineering

andtown

lanning.48

market or heseoccult

oubles' xisted

mong

mem-

bers f thepublic s well as among hosepsychologists,octors,ngineers,

lawyers

nd architects

ho

played

central olewithin

henew

applied

ci-

ences. he nterestfboth

roups

n

these

orderciencesan be

ocated

n

the

scientificnd

popular

ascinationith he

ccult,

pragmatic

ttitudeowards

new nd

unprovenechnologies

nd

techniques,

nd the

nchoate

isciplinary

boundaries

f the

nascent

pplied

ciences,

hich

nabled he

expression

f

45 For lder istories hich tilize he

flight

rom eason' ndthe crisis f

faith'

nalyses,

ee,

for

xample,

anet

ppenheim,

he

OtherWorld:

piritualism

nd

Psychical

esearchn

England,

1850-1914

Cambridge

985);

FrankM.

Turner,

etweencience

nd

Religion:

heReaction o

Scientific

aturalismn Late Victorian

ngland

New

Haven,CT,

and

London

974).

Formore

recent ork hatmphasizeshe eculiarlyodernature foccultismnthenineteenthnd arly

twentieth

enturies,

eeAlex

Owen,

he

Place

f

Enchantment:ritish

ccultismnd theCulture

of

he

Modern

Chicago

ndLondon

004);

Treitel,

cience

or

he

oul,

p.

cit.

46

Jay

Winter,

ites

fMemory,

ites

f

Mourning:

heGreatWar n

European

ultural

istory

(Cambridge

995).

47

Treitel,

cience

or

he

oul,

p.

cit.,

94.

48

Ibid.,

37-9,

150-4.






592

Journal

f

Contemporary

History

ol

44

No

4

competinglaims oexpertise.learly,t was inthis ontext,s wellas that

of nterwar

rime,

hat riminal

elepathy,

heOccultdouble'of

criminology,

emerged; practice

hat ame o be utilized ot

nly y

he

public,

ut lso

by

the

police

n

Weimar

ermany.

The motivationf

Germany'solice

forces

n

investigating

he claims f

criminal

elepathsredictably

ifferedrom hat f the

public

who

appear

to have been

driven

y

a combinationf economic

esperation

nd occult

fascination

n

their

ealings

ith

lairvoyants deriving

rom heir

ommit-

ment o

creating

modern orce

apable

of

combating

rime

n

an

efficient

and

professional

anner.

ollowing

he

war,

heGerman

olice

undertook

process freorganizationndprofessionalizationhat erved o distinguish

them rom he

mperial

orce hathad been heir

redecessor.

s historians

ofWeimar

olicing,

ncluding

iang

nd

Bessel,

ave

hown,

his ransforma-

tionwas

in

part

result f

exigency.

he terms f the

reaty

f

Versailles,

or

instance,

hich

rohibited

he

rganization

f heWeimar

onstabulary

long

military

ines,

orcedhe

police

o conceive f

themselves

n

a new

way:

not

s

an

auxiliary

o the

Wehrmacht,

ut s a

professional

aw enforcement

gency.49

While,

ronically,

s Bessel as

demonstrated,

his ew

forcewas

more

umer-

ous and better rmed han hatmaintained

y

theLänder

prior

o the

war,

recruitment

olicy

nd

training

id

change

o reflecthe new

emphasis

n

professionalism.olicemenegan o be recruitedrom he ivilian opulation

ratherhan

rom he

rmy, ndergoingpecializedraining

n

the

use

of

weap-

ons,

s well

s instruction

n

the ntricaciesf

the

penal

ode

and the

tructure

of theGerman tate.50hesenewrecruits ereon thewhole

younger,

itter

and betterducated han hose fthe

pre-war ears, ualities

ecessitated

y

their ole s

peacekeepers

n thenew

Republic's

treetsnd

by

he

ncreasingly

bureaucraticnd technical ature

f

police

work.51he difficulties

ssociated

with

olicing

modernndustrial

ociety

lso saw both he

Schutzpolizei

r

Schupo Security

olice)

nd the

Kriminalpolizei

r

Kripo

Criminal olice)

adopt range fnew echnologiesnd cientificechniquesuringhe nterwar

period.52

Cars,

eletypes

nd radio ransmittersnabled heWeimar

olice

o move

and

communicate

wiftly,eeping ace

with heevermorefrantic

peed

of

modernife.53 otorvehicles

n

particular

ere n

important

sset

llowing

the

Schupo,

which

cquired

fleet fcars fter he

war,

not

only

o

respond

quickly

o

disturbances,

ut o

regulate

he

growing

olume f trafficn the

Republic's

treets.54he Berlinmurder

nspectorate,

ormed

n

1926,

also

acquired

vehicle

n

themid-

920s,

quipped

with

verything

hat

might

e

required

t a

murder

cene,

ncluding

typewriter,

radio nd kit or

rocess-

49

Bessel,

Policing,


Polities',

p.

cit.,

190-1.

50

Ibid.,

198.

51

Liang,

Berlin

Police',

op.

cit.,

162.

52

Bessel,

Policing,


Polities',

p.

cit.,

196.

53

His-HueyLiang,

The BerlinPolice Force

n

the Weimar

Republic Berkeley,

A, 1970),

57.

54

Bessel,

Policing,


Polities',

197-8.






Wolffram:

Crime,

Clairvoyance

nd

the Weimar Police

593

ingphysicalvidence.55etween919 and1927the riminalolice nBerlin,

who cted s a

model or heir

olleagues

n

other

major

ities,

lso ntroduced

a

range

f

newforensic

echniques,ncludingingerprinting

nd ballistic

ests,

innovationshat

necessitatedhe

foundationf an institute

or

olice

cience

in

Charlottenburg.56

hese

echniques,long

with

riminal

lbums,

ertillon

measurements,

rime

cene

photography

nd chemical

nalysis,

whichhad

been

ntroducedt

the turn f

the

century,

emonstrated

he

eagerness

f

thecriminal

olice

o

makedetection

s scientifics

possible.57

een to

try

anything

hat

might

rove

seful

n

their

ursuit

f

criminals,

he

Kripo

lso

adopted

methods erived

rom henew ocial

nd

applied

ciences,

ncluding

criminalsychology,ociologyndgraphology.he use of such heoriesnd

techniques,

s

well s the

ncorporation

f

echnological

dvances,

as nstru-

mental o the

Kripo's

laim

o be a

professional

rime-fightinggency.

ndeed,

familiarity

ith

olice

cience nd

criminology

ere

precondition

or areer

advancement.58

Therewere

everal easons

or his

mphasis

n science nd

technology

s a

means

nd

measure f

professionalization.

learly,

heWeimar

olice

needed

to

invest

n

communication

echnology,eaponry

nd

transportation

f

they

were o maintain

rder

n an

increasingly

echnologicalociety.59

hey

lso

needed

o rationalize

nd bureaucratize

heir

work nd

organization

n

order

toremain fficient.nthisvein, fforts eremadeto centralizehecriminal

police

on a

national asis.

Although

his

movewas

ultimately

locked

by

the

tates,

central

ingerprint

ecord

was established

n

Berlin nd

missing

persons

ases

began

o

be

organized

rom resden.60

mphasis

n

profession-

alism,

articularly

s

represented

y

scientificnd technical

now-how,

as

also a

consequence

f that

chool f

criminologicalhought

hich ttributed

thebulk

f serious rime

o the

Berufsvebrecher

the

habitual

r

professional

criminal).61

n

order

o

gain

n

advantage

ver his ften

echnicallyavvy pe-

ciesof

riminal,

he

police

ought

ot

only

o

specialize

ccording

o themost

commonypes fcrimes, ut lso to mobilize ewsystemsf dentification,

including ingerprinting,

o

capture

heserecidivists.62

inally,

he desire o

incorporate

cience nd

technology

nto

olice

nvestigations

as,

ccording

o

historians,

ncluding

ace

Elder,

product

f a

deep-seated

istrust

f human

55

Elder,

Murder

Scenes',

op.

cit.,

73.

56

Liang,

BerlinPolice

Force,

op.

cit.,

123.

57

Wagner,Volksgemeinschaft,

p.

cit.,

97-8.

58

Liang,

Berlin

Police

Force,

op.

cit.,

128.

59

Elder,

Murder

Scenes',

op.

cit.,

69.

60

Bessel,

Policing,


Polities',

p.

cit.,

193.

61

The idea of

the

Berufsvebrecher

the

habitual or

professional

riminal)

was

popularized

by

RobertHeindlin

1926,

but was evident n some form

mong police

and

criminologists

rom he

late

nineteenth

entury.

n

the Weimar

police's

utilization

f this

concept,

ee Herbert

Reinke,

'Robert Heindl's

Berufsvebrecher:

olice

Perceptions

f Crime and Criminals

and Structures

of Crime

Control

n

Germany uring

he FirstHalf

of the Twentieth

entury',

n

Amy

Gilman

Srebnick

nd René

Levy

eds),

Crime

nd Culture:

An

Historical

erspective

London

2005), 50-3;

Wagner,Volksgemeinschaft,

p.

cit.,

20-5.

62

Wagner,

Volksgemeinschaft,p.

cit.,

80.






594

Journal

f

Contemporary

History

ol

44

No

4

sensorybservationndmemory.63lthoughWagner assuggestedmbiva-

lence

mong nvestigators

bout

newforensic

echnology,

eimar

riminalists

and criminal

sychologists

eem o have been

equally

mbivalent

boutthe

utility

f witnesses.

hese

xperts

tressedhe

vagaries

f witness ecall

nd

observation,

hich

were

hought

o be

adversely

ffected

ygender,

lass nd

nationality.64

ountless

ourswere

wasted,

hey omplained,

ollowingp

the

tips

nd

statements

f

people

whowerenot

apable

f

distinguishing

etween

observationnd

imagination.

or

many olicemen,

hen,

hysical

vidence

collected

ia forensics

as more

eliable ndmore

aluable han uman bser-

vation, ut,

s

Wagner

as

pointed

ut,

he

potential

fthese ew

echniques

andtechnologiesas not lways ealizedndaily se.65

It was

in

this

ontext, hen,

n

which

echnological

nd

methodological

advance

elped

orm hebasis

for

rofessionalization,

ut mbivalencexisted

about the

utility

f bothforensics

nd witness

tatements,

hat

Germany's

criminal

olice

ook n nterest

n

the laims f

lairvoyants,

uch s the

isters

Diederichnd

Hessel.66

lthough

riminal

elepathy

acked cientificerifica-

tion,

ragmatism

ictated hat

his

echniquemight

e used until

t

proved

either

nhelpful

r

definitively

nscientific.

requently

ompared

with he

olfactoryowers

f the

policedog,

new

applied

ciences

uch s

graphology

and

modern

echnologies

ike he

wireless

elegraph,

t eemed

ntirelyossible

inthe

arly

Weimareriod hat lairvoyance ight rove o be a useful ew

forensicool.67he

renowned erlin

etective

nspector

rnst ennatwrote

n

this

egard:

Clairvoyance

s a

so-called id

in

solving

riminalases

appeared

n the cene

fter he

war. he Criminal

olicewhohave

o

apply veryegal

means f

olving

rimes,

n

no

way

rejectedlairvoyance

rom he

utset,

ather

hey

et

up

a

special

cientific

epartment

hat

checkedll cases

hatwere

upposed

o havebeen

olved

hroughlairvoyance.68

In

a similar tatement

oncerning

he

police

use of

clairvoyants

n

Essen,

Criminalommissionerchultz oted hat apital aseswhichwere ot uick-

ly

resolved ia

physical

vidence

ften

rovoked

rivate

fforts

o

identify

the

perpetrator.

n

such

ases,

he

police

were

glad

of

any

nformation

hese

enquiries

roduced,

ven

when t

was derived

hrough

he

modernmethods

f

clairvoyance

nd

telepathy.69

By

hemid- 920s he

Weimar

olice

adutilized

lairvoyants,

n

their

apac-

ity

s

human

olice-dogs',

n

several

ases,

n

some

nstances

ctivelyeeking

63

Elder,

Murder

cenes',

p.

cit.,

0.

64

Ibid.,

0-3.

65

Wagner,

olksgemeinschaft,

p.

cit.,

7-8.

66 Ibid., 02.

67 Otto

eeling,

er

Bernburger

ellseher-Prozeß,

it ild

und

chriftprobe

esLehrers rost

nebst inem

orwortonRechtsanwalt

r.

Winterberg

Berlin-Pankow

925),

3.

68

'Rechtsprechung',

riminalistische

onatshefte

(1929),

45.

69 Die Methode

der

Telepathie

nd

Hellseherei ur

Aufklärung

on Verbrechen. on

Kriminalkommissar

chultz

Essen).

Nachlaß Albert

Hellwig

10/4 Hellsehen

llgemein.

Korrespondenz,

914-1929,

GPP.






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the Weimar olice

595

outtheir elp nd nothersttendingéances rganizedy hird arties.70or

example,

n

March

1922,

at the nsistence

fthemurdered an's

riends,

he

police

nd

the

prosecuting

ttorney

n

Tilsit

rought

n

the isters iederich

and Hessel

n

the

hope

of

solving

he October

921 murder f the hunter

Olbrisch,

hich adoccurred

earReisterbruch.

iederich's

escription

f he

murderered

to the rrest f

a local butcher

y

he

name fWilhelm

.,

who

later onfessed

o the rime.71

imilarly,

uring

he

nvestigation

nto he

mur-

der f

forest arden

n

Bednarken,

ünther-Geffers,

hohadbeen

hired

y

local

andowner,

rovided

he

olice

with nformationbout

he ircumstances

surrounding

he rime

ndthe

dentity

f reluctant

itness,

hich

ltimately

helpedonvictheman hey ad ncustody.72hile hese ases uggestedhat

criminal

elepaths

ight lay

constructiveole

n

the

nvestigation

fcertain

intractable

rimes,

he

police

presidents

f cities

ncluding

erlin,

eipzig,

Königsberg

ndKielremained

autious

bout heir

se;

n

some ases

refusing

the

equests

f

nvestigators

o consult

lairvoyants.

iven

he ackof cientific

evidence

or he

eality

f

clairvoyance

nd the

perceived

ropensity

foccult-

ists

or

raud,

hese

men elt

ustified

n

nsisting

n

an

enquiry

nto

very

ase

of riminal

elepathy

hat ook

place

n

their

urisdiction.73

The

potential

foccult

etection,

hould

t

prove

oth

usceptible

o scientif-

ic verification

nd

applicable

n

demand,

ppeared

o be tremendous.

ndeed,

occultdetectionppeared o offer kindofcompromiseetween orensic

techniques,

hichwere

not

lways pplicable,

nd witness

tatements,

hich

were

frequently

naccurate;

romising

o

identify

races,

lbeit

sychic

nes,

left ehind

y

criminals

nd

victims,

nd

to

provide

irst-hand

nowledge

f

places,

eople

nd motivations.

indful

f

this

otential,

heGerman

olice

put

riminal

elepathy

o

the est

n

the

aboratory

nd the

field,

here twas

hoped

hat uccess

rfailureould

be measured

angibly

n

thenumber

f

ases

solved.

heresults

f uch

xperiments

ere

not,however,

uite

s

unambigu-

ous as

the

police

uthorities

ight

ave wished.

n

many

ases

t remained

unclearwhether hevaguedescriptionsf peopleand events rovided y

clairvoyants

ctually

ided

or hindered

nvestigations

nd whetherhemore

accurate

rognostications

f riminal

elepaths

ere erived

y

ranscendental

means r

simply

leaned

rom

ewspaper eports

nd witnesses. his confu-

sion

was articulated

y

heBerlin

riminalistax

Hagemann,

honoted hat

despite

he

arge

number f

spiritualistittings

e had

attended,

e remained

unable

o ascertain hether

lairvoyance

r

telepathy

xisted. e found hat

much

f the nformation

e heardfrommediums

ontained modicum f

truth,

ut

was unable o determinehether

hemedium ad come cross his

70 Albert ellwign HerrnMinisterialratärtung,otsdam,en12November925.Nachlaß

Albert

ellwig

0/4 ellsehen

llgemein.orrespondenz,

914-1929,

GPP.

71 Otto

Goldman,

Die sächsischen

ellseherinnen',

eitschriftür

kritischenkkultismus

(1928),

129-30.

72

Lambert,

Der

nsterburger

rozeß',

p.

cit.,

35.

73 Albert

ellwig,Wahrsagen

nd Hellsehen'. achlaßAlbert

ellwig

0/4

Hellsehen/Fall

'August

rost',

GPP.






596

Journal

f Contem

poraryHistory

ol 44

No

4

informationynatural rsupernaturaleans.74his ackof ertaintyoncern-

ing

both he

utility

nd the

veracity

f the

nformation

rovided y

criminal

telepaths

ltimately

ivided

pinion

mong

Weimar riminalistsverwhether

criminal

elepathy

as a valuable ddition o

themethods f

police

cience r

a

deliberatend

potentiallyangerous

orm ffraud.

The initial

pen-mindedness

n

the

part

of

Germany's olice

towards

clairvoyance

s an

investigative

ool

became

empered

ver ime

y

the

fre-

quent

naccuraciesnd

ambiguities

n

the

estimony

f criminal

elepaths.

n

Düsseldorf

uring

929,

for

xample,

he

police

were

nitiallyappy

o

allow

those ccultists ho volunteeredheir

ssistance o become

nvolved

n

the

search or he nfamouserialmurderernowns theDüsseldorfampire,ut

as itbecame lear hat he nformation

rovided y

hese ccult

etectives as

contradictory,hey

ecamedismissivef such

offers.75

imilarly,uring

he

investigation

f

he

Anderheyden

exualmurder

n

Essen he

uthorities

ought

the

help

fa medium ho

purported

o be able to describehe

rime

n

all its

particulars.

n further

nvestigation,

owever,

he

clairvoyant'sescription

ofthemurdernd the

ircumstancesnderwhich t took

place

were ound o

bear

ittle

esemblanceo the acts.76he

police

uthorities

n

Essen

oncluded

from

his

xperience,

s did

many

ther

egional olice

forces

uring

his

period,

hat he

powers

f

clairvoyants

ereno substituteor

aborious

olicework.77

By

the nd

of

the1920s therewas concern

mong olice

officials ot

only

that riminal

elepathy

as of ittle se

in

the

field,

utalso that t

actively

interfered

ith he

bility

f

the

Kriminalpolizei

o do their

ob.

Their

irst

complaint

n

this

regard

was the amount f

police

timewasted

following

up

theevidence

rovided y

occultists.

n

Berlin,

very

major

riminalase

attracted

lairvoyants

nd

astrologersager

o offerssistance o the

police.

Investigating

he eads

provided

y

these

ccultists,

s ErnstGennat

tated,

greatly ultiplied

he riminalist'sorkload.78

erhaps redictably,

ennat's

complaintsbout riminalelepaths imickedhose hathe andother rimi-

nalistsmade bout

witnesses,

hose naccuratend

n

many

ases rrelevant

statementsere

esponsible

or oth alse eads ndexcess

aperwork.79

hese

criminalists

omplained,

urthermore,

hat he

contemporaryrevalence

f

criminal

elepaths

nd their

ortrayal

n

both he

press

nd

popular

ulture

seemed

o

encourage

he

ublic

o seek ut

lairvoyants

atherhan

olicemen

when

hey

ecamevictims f crime. his concernwas

particularly

vident

74

Auszug

aus dem

Vortrag

über Moderne

Kriminalpolizei

von Herrn

Oberregierungsrat

Hagemann, Vortrage

der Polizeiwissenschaftlichen oche vom

27

Oktober bis

1

Nov.

1924,

Berlin,

925 Seite 137

f.' n

Nachlaß Albert

HellwiglO/4Korrespondenz

924-1926,

IGPP.

75 Ibid. See also Kaes, M,

op.

cit., 32; Mel Gordon, Erik

Jan

Hanussen. Hitler's

Jewish

Clairvoyant

Los

Angeles

001),

167.

76 'Die Methode der

Telepathie

und Hellseherei

zur

Aufklärung

von Verbrechen Von

Kriminalkommissarchultz

Essen),

op.

cit.

77 'Die Methode der

Telepathie

nd

Hellseherei',

Hellwig

10/4, GPP,

op.

cit.

78

'Rechtsprechung',p.

cit.,

45.

79

Elder,

Murder

Scenes',

op.

cit.,

85.






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the

Weimar olice 597

duringhe1929censorshipearingn theclairvoyantilm'Hellseher-Film),

which tarred

he riminal

elepath

ünther-Geffers.

The

screenplay

as as follows:

elga

s

a

womanwhose

endency

o som-

nambulism

s

heighteneduring

hefull

moon.While

Helga

and herhusband

are

at

a

sitting

ith

clairvoyant

edium

Günther-Geffers)

heir

stranged

son Kurt teals

money

rom is father's esk.That

night,

fter he

couple's

returnnd before he

discovery

f the

theft,

he husband

s murdered. he

police,finding

urt

n

possession

f the

money, harge

him

withmurder.

Distraught,elga goes

to themedium

sking

or

help.

The mediumnforms

Helga

that twas shewho shot

herhusband

while

n

a somnambulisticrance

broughtn bythe fullmoon.Helgacommits uicideby drinkingoison.80

Before

making

is

recommendation,

he ensor

ought

xpert pinions

rom

the

Kripo

bout he

utility

f

lairvoyance

s a forensic

ool.

nspector

ennat

stated

hat

espite

ll

effortso

verifyeports

fcriminal

elepathy,

heBerlin

police

had been nable

o find

onvincing

vidence

or he

eracity

f ven ne

case. On the

ubject

fthe

ilm's

elease,

e

warned,

The

film

tself

ndangers

ublic

rder ecause

he onscious

omparison

f the

nadequate

police

olutionnd

the olution fthe

lairvoyant

illmake he

public

waver

n

their rust

of he

olice.81

That

Günther-Geffers,

hose

notoriety

ad

spread

s a result f

her 1927

trial

or raud

n

nsterburg,

layed

he ead role

n

this

ilm,

e

argued,

nly

served

o

give

this

dangerous

iction he

appearance

f

reality.

he censor

prohibited

he elease

fthe

film,

n thebasis hat t belittledhework fthe

criminal

olice

nd

encouraged

n

the

public

hebelief hat riminal

elepaths

rather

han he

police

were

best

quipped

o

nvestigate

rime,

ven

n

capital

cases.82

In

the ame

year

s this

ensorship

earing,

he

Minister

or he

nterior

prohibited

he

practice

f criminal

elepathy

n

Prussia. t

had

come to his

attention,ewrote,hat espite rofoundffortso educate olice fficersnd

the

public

bout henature nd

effectsf so-called riminal

elepathy, any

still

ersisted

n

their elief hat ertain

eople,

s a result

f

paranormal

bili-

ties,

were

apable

f

helping

he

police

nd

private

itizensolve rimes.83he

ministertressed

hat,

ecause he

eputation,

onour,

conomic

xistencend

freedomf German itizensould

depend

n theresults f

police nquiries,

t

was

crucial

hat

nly

hosemethodshat adbeen

cientifically

erifiede used

in criminal

nvestigations.

or these

easons,

e

wrote,

e forbade he

police

from

sing lairvoyants

nd

telepaths

n

their

ursuit

fcriminals.84

hisdeci-

sionwas

applauded yhigh-rankingolice fficials,

homaintainedot

only

80

'Rechtsprechung',p.

cit.,

5.

81

Ibid.

82

Ibid.

83 Otto

Seeling,

Verbot er

Beschäftigung

on

sogen.Kriminaltelepathen',eitschriftür

Parapsychologie

(7) (1929),

01.

84

Ibid,

01-2.






598

Journal

f

ContemporaryHistory

ol

44 No

4

that he nformationrovided ycriminalelepathsreatedmoreworkfor

the

police,

ut hat riminal

elepathy

hreatenedo undermineheir

uthor-

ity.85

hile his

rohibition

idnot

pply

o other erman

tates,

y

1929 the

police

orces

n

most ftheLänderhad also

stopped

sing

riminal

elepaths,

having

ecided hat

hey

weremore

ikely

o

be a hindrancehan

help.

Although

hePrussian

Minister or he nterior ad stressedack of scien-

tific erification

s the

major

actor

rohibiting

heuse

of criminal

elepathy,

it

appears

o havebeen

lairvoyance's

ackof

utility

hat

onstituted

hereal

problem;

fter

ll,

t was

pragmatism

ot cientific

tatuswhich ended o be

thedecisive

actor

n

whether ew

techniques

nd

technologies

ere ested

and retainedythepolice.Theadoption f newforensicools ndmethods,

includinglairvoyance,uring

he

arly

920shadbeen ntendedo rationalize

policing

nd make

t

more

fficient.riminal

elepathy,

owever,

hich ad

proven

nreliable

n

numerousests oth

n

thefield

nd

in

the

courtroom,

seemed

nly

o createmore

work.

urthermore,

olice

useof

lairvoyants

as

problematic,

s both he

ensor's nd theMinister'statementsad

suggested,

because t

fragmented

pistemicuthority

ver rime nd

policing.

hiswas a

frustrationot

only

orWeimar

riminalists,

howere ntentn

professional-

izing,

ut lso for ndividuals

n

fields uch s law and

medicine ho claimed

expertise

n

the

nderstanding

f rime ndcriminals.t was critics

f

riminal

telepathyhoderivedrom hese ields, ost otablyheurist lbert ellwig

and the

psychiatrist

lbert

Moll,

whose

rticles,

pinions

nd

petitions

ad

helped

ormulatehe nterior

inister's

rohibition.

Albert

ellwig,

district

ourt irector

n

Potsdam,

tudiedndtested

many

of thebest-known

ontemporary

riminal

elepaths,ollecting

nd

analysing

the rticles hat

ppeared

n these

Occult riminalists'

n

the

press.Hellwig

used hismaterial

o

guide

ndadvise

he

olice

n

their

ealings

ith

lairvoy-

ants,

resenting

is

findings

o

police

ndforensicodies

hroughout

he oun-

try.86

n

this

apacity,

e

gained reputation

s a virulent

pponent

f occult

detection.87lbertMoll,a Berlin-basedsychiatristho had used hisearly

interest

n

hypnotism

nd

psychical

esearch o debunk

omeof

Germany's

most amous

mediums,

as also

called

upon by

theBerlin

olice

o test he

powers

f

putative

lairvoyants.88

oll boasted

n

hismemoirshat

his

opin-

ionhad

directly

ontributedo the

1929 decision ftheReich

Ministeror he

85

'Rechtsprechung',

p.

cit.,

45.

86 Die

Kriminaltelepathie

om

forensisch-psychologischen

tandpunkt

(Vortrag

am

1

October

1929 auf Settiner

olizeipräsidium);

Die

Kriminaltelepathie

m

Lichteder

forensischen

Psychologie'

Vortrag

n

der

Forensisch-Psychologischen

esellschaft

m

Hamburg

am 30

April

1926);

Aufklärung

on Verbrechen urch

Hellsehen

Vortrag

n

der

Humboldt-Hochschule m

9

January 926); NachlaßAlbertHellwig10/4Hellsehen/FallAugustDrost', GPP.

87

Hellwig'snotoriety

n

thisfieldwas not restricted

o occult ircles.

Kurt

Tucholsky,

or xam-

ple,

referredo

Hellwig

s a base materialistnd

as

a

man who had

specialized'

n

anti-occultism.

Kurt

Tucholsky,

Gesammelte

Werke,

ol.

5,

Mary

Gerold-Tucholsky

nd Fritz

J.

Raddatz

(eds)

(Reinbek

bei

Hamburg

1975),

29.

88 Albert

Moll,

Ein Leben als

Arzt

der

Seele:

Erinnerungen

Dresden

1936),

117. For an exam-

ple

of Moll's

debunking

ctivities,

ee

Albert

Moll,

Der

Spiritismus

Stuttgart

924).






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd

the Weimar olice 599

InterioroprohibitriminalelepathynPrussia.89ndeed, iven hemanner

in

whichMoll and

Hellwig ver-emphasized

oth

he

prevalence

f criminal

telepathy

nd ts

putative angers,

heMinisterouldhavebeen

forgiven

or

thinking

hat

Germany

as beset

y

veritable

lague

f

clairvoyants.

The

critiques roduced

y

these

men,

who

sought

o vouchsafehe laims

of

urists

nd

psychiatrists

ithin henascent ield f

criminology

y expel-

ling

ay practitioners

uch

s

occultists,

ocused

n

threemain

dangers.

he

first as the hreat

osed by

criminal

elepathy

o

justice.

Moll

complained

in

this

egard

hat nformation

btained rom riminal

elepaths

as

likely

o

mislead

r hinder

nvestigations,

esulting

n

wasted ime nd the

defamation

and incarcerationf nnocenteople.90imilarly,ellwignoted hatduring

his career

e had witnessed

undreds f

people

endure

ccusations,

ouse-

searches

ndarrestst

the nsistencef

riminal

elepaths.91

n this

asis,

hey

urged

he

police

o

forgo

heuse of

clairvoyants.

The second

danger

dentified

y

these riticswas the threat hatoccult

detectionnd ts

portrayal

n

the

press

onstitutedor

olice

laims

o

profes-

sionalismnd

expertise.

his

critique

which ed

off

he

widespread

nxi-

eties bout

heroleof the

Weimar

ress

nd its

representation

f

crime

hat

havebeen

dentified

y

scholars

uch s Sara Hall

-

was

pursued oggedly

byHellwig.

n

particular,

e was

concernedt themanner

n

which he

press

reported

he rials f riminal

elepaths

or raud.92

ollowing

he1925 trial f

the

hypnotist

ugust

rost,

or

xample,

hevast

majority

f he

press eport-

ed the efendant's

cquittal

s an affirmationf riminal

elepathy,

atherhan

an

acknowledgement

f

Drost's

ood

faith.

ellwig

omplained

hat

uch

en-

sationalismnd

naccuracy

n

crime

ndcourt

eports,

hichwere ome f he

most

opular

nd

eagerly

eadcolumns

n

the

daily ress uring

heWeimar

Republic,

ere oth

isruptive

f he

udicial

rocess

nddetrimentalo

public

welfare.93

e calledon the

press

o rememberheir

uty

o their eaders nd

their ultural

mission,

arning

hat rticleshat utlinedhe uccess fcrimi-

naltelepaths,articularlynthose aseswhere police nvestigationad met

with

ailure,

ad the

potential

o convince he

public

hat

lairvoyants

ather

than he

police

were

he

xperts

n

mattersf crime nd detection.94s evi-

dence fthis ontention

e noted henumerousettershe

police

had received

89

Moll,

Ein Leben ls

Arzt

er

eele,

p.

cit.,

17-18.

90

Ibid., 17,

121.

91

Albert

ellwig,

Wahrsagen

nd Hellsehen'. achlaßAlbert

ellwig

0/4Hellsehen/Fall

'August

rost',

GPP.

92

On the nxieties obilized

y

he ensational

overage

f

rime

n

the

ress,

eeSaraF.

Hall,

'The

Subject

nder

nvestigation:

eimar ulturendthe

olice',

hD

dissertation,

niversity

f

Californiat

Berkeley,

000.

93

Ibid.,

ii.

94

On the

ontemporary

ebate ver he

responsibility

f the

press

o the

public

nd ts ul-

tural

mission,

ee Modris

kstein,

he

Limits

f

Reason.TheGerman emocraticress nd the

Collapse f

Weimar

emocracy

London 975),

71.

For

Hellwig's omplaints

bout

reporting,

see Albert

ellwig,

Der Hellseher

on

Rothenstein',

eitschriftür

ritischenkkultismusnd

Grenzfragen

es Seelenlebens

(1) (1927), 8;

Hellwig,

Okkultismus nd

Vebrechen,

p.

cit.,

89.






600

Journal

f

Contemporary

History

ol 44 No 4

inthe ftermathftheDrost rial,which emandedhat rost's ollectionf

clairvoyants

atherhan he

police nvestigate

he

orrespondents'

ases.95

According

o

Hellwig

nd

Moll,

the hird

anger

ssociatedwith riminal

telepathy

as ts ntimate

elationship

ith

ypnosis.

ostcriminal

elepaths,

as

we

have

seen,

performed

heir

lairvoyantnvestigations

n

a

hypnotic

trance,

ither

elf-induced,

s

in

the ase ofWalther

öpfner,

r

by

means f

a

hypnotist,

uch s Drost

or

Hessel.The

problems

ere

were

wofold. or

Moll,

hypnosis,

r

more

ccurately

hedissemblancef

t,

was used

by

rimi-

nal

telepaths

o

give

heir

erformances

certain

sychologicalmpression

nd

to

avoid

responsibility

hen he nformation

hey rovided

as inaccurate.96

Höpfner,or xample, uring is 1925prosecutionor raud,laimed hathe

was

completely

naware

f

what

he

said while

under

ypnosis.97

n

arguing

that riminal

elepaths'

se

of

hypnosis

as

a blind or

onscious

raud,

oth

Moll and

Hellwig uggested

ot

only

hat

lairvoyants

erenot

really

ble to

provide

nformationbout

rimes,

ut hat

hey

were

n

fact riminals

hem-

selves. he second

roblem osed

by

he ssociation

etween

riminal

elepa-

thy

nd

hypnosis

as ts

danger

o the omnambulist'sealth hen nduced

y

a

laypractitioner.ellwig,

or

xample, rgued

hat

ayhypnotists

ere ften

ignorant

f heir

ubject's

nderlying

edical onditions

nd the

ontraindica-

tions oncomitantith rtificial

omnambulism,

ltimatelyeading

o

damage

to the ubject's ealth, articularlyental ealth. ellwig lso mobilized he

contemporary

opular

oncern

bout he ublimationf one's

will

o sinister

or criminal

ypnotists,

hich cholars uch s Stefan

ndriopoulos

nd Ruth

Harris ave

pointed

o,

n

order o

suggest

hat he

ay

use

of

hypnotism

ould

easily

ead to

a somnambulisticrimewave.98 he

dangers

hat

ay hypnosis

posed

forhealth nd

public

rderwereboth

ropes

hat

had beenused

by

medical

ypnotists,

ncluding

oll,

during

he atenineteenth

entury

s

part

of their

truggle

o

gain

a medical

monopoly

ver

he

use of

hypnotism.

n

the ontext f

criminal

elepathy,

owever,

hey

worked

o

suggest

hemental

instabilityf theentrancedlairvoyantnd thepredatoryriminalityfthe

hypnotist.

hile uch

figures

ere

learly

ot uitable

o

provide xpertise

n

the

fields f

criminology

nd

policing,hey

were,

ritics

uch s

Hellwig

nd

Moll

argued, ntirelyegitimate

ubjects

f

egal

nd

psychiatric

ntervention.

Although

oubtless heambivalence

bout new

technologies

nd forensic

techniques

hat atrick

Wagner

dentified

n

his

tudy

fWeimar

olicing

as

real,

heuse of

clairvoyantsy

theGerman

olice

during

he 1920s did not

necessarilypitomize

his mbivalence.

n

a context

n which he scientific

status

fthe ccult emained

n

openquestion,

nd

n

which

ragmatism

as

95

Hellwig,

kkultismus

nd

Verbrechen,

p.

cit.,

9.

96 Moll,EinLeben lsArzt er eele, p.cit., 20.

97

'Auszug

us den Akten er

Staatsanwaltschaftautzen

wegen

Betruges

tA

II

10I8/25',

Albert

ellwig

0/4Hellsehen/Fall

Höpfner',

GPP.

98 On

hypnotic

rimes

n

the German

ontext,

ee Peter

Jansen

nd Stefan

ndriopoulos

(tr.

tefan

ndriopoulos),

ossessed:

ypnotic

rimes,

orporate

iction,

nd the nvention

of

Cinema

Chicago

nd London

008).

In

the

French

ontext,

ee Ruth

Harris,

Murdersnd

Madness:

Medicine,

aw,

nd

Society

n the inde Siècle

Oxford

989).






Wolffram:

rime,

lairvoyance

nd the Weimar

olice 60

1

a decisive actorn he echniquesndtechnologiesdopted y riminalists,he

brief lirtation

f theWeimar

olice

with

lairvoyance

an be seen s

part

f

their edicationo

professionalizationhrough

cience nd

technology,

ather

than

rejection

f

it. As demonstrated

y

recent tudies f modern

ccult-

ism,

whichhaveconsidered

he mobilizationf theoccult o

solvemodern

socialand scientific

roblems,

t s no

longer

easible o dismiss

ny

and all

forays

nto ccultisms

symptoms

f

echnological

nd scientifictavism. he

strange

onfluenceetween

modern

olicing

nd theoccult hat ccurred

n

Germanyollowing

hefirst orld

war, hen,

an be understoods a creative

answer o the

problems

osed by

the ntersectionf

rising

rime,

conomic

desperation,olice verwork,nd thedesire oprove oth he cientifictatus

and social

utility

foccultism.

Thisunusual

olutioneems o

have

been

nabled,

n

part, y

he act

hat he

disciplinary

nd

professional

oundaries

urroundingriminology

nd

polic-

ing

emained

n

flux

uring

he

arly

Weimar

eriod.

or

he

police,

whowere

intent

n

using

nnovations

n

science nd

technology

o make

policing

more

efficient

ndmore

rofessional,

his ackof ohesion llowed

xperimentation

with nd discussion

f

new

nd

scientifically

nverified

echniques

ike rimi-

nal

telepathy.

or hose

rofessionals,

n

areas uch

s

law and

psychiatry,

ho

wished

o

ay

laim o

expertise

n

criminology

nd

policing,

owever,

riminal

telepaths,

n

pite

f heirtatisticalnsignificance,epresentedfragmentation

of their

pistemic

uthority.

eterminedo

expel

hese

ay competitors

rom

their

errain,

riticsuch s

Hellwig

nd Moll alerted he uthoritiesnd the

public

o the

myriad angers

ssociatedwith ccult etectionnd

sought

o

debunk

ositive

eports

f

clairvoyance,alling

n

themedia o avoidsensa-

tionalism

n

favour

f

accuracy

nd

public esponsibility.

inally,

hese ritics

suggested

he

riminality

nd mental

nstability

fcriminal

elepaths

nd their

hypnotists,

s a means f

transforming

hese ccultistsrom

ompetitors

nto

subjects

f

egal

nd

psychiatric

nalysis.

While

Hellwig

nd Moll

may

have

convincedhe uthoritiesf theirase,as evidencedythe1929prohibition

ofcriminal

elepathy

n

Prussia,

riminal

elepathsroved

esilient

n

theface

ofofficial

isapproval,

ontinuing

o offerheir erviceso the

public

ntil ll

species

foccultism ere

anned

n

1937 under henazi

regime.

Heather

Wolffram

is a

postdoctoral

ellow t theCentre or

he

History

f

European

Discoursest the

University

f

Queensland,

ustralia.

er

book

on

psychical

esearchnd

parapsychology

n

Germany,

itled

StepchildrenfScience: sychical esearchndParapsychologyn

Germany,

.

1870-1939,

s

forthcoming

s

part

ftheClio Medica:

Wellcome

eries

n

the

History

f

Medicine

Rodopi).

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