Ernst Schultze

Vocation

Notable

Traits

German psychiatrist, posthumously brought back to attention when his interview with serial killer Fritz Haarmann formed the basis of the 1995 documentary feature film Der Totmacher (Deathmaker). Ernst Schultze studied medicine at the Universities of Berlin and Bonn and earned his doctorate with a nutritional physiology study. However, he then specialized in the field of psychiatry, by working at the health and care institutions in Dusseldorf, Andernach and Bonn, first as an assistant, then as a senior physician. Schultze habilitated in 1895 at the Bonn University of Psychiatry and received in 1904 a call to the University of Greifswald. There he also proved his organizational skills by building and setting up a new clinic under his direction. He was able to contribute his practical experience in the field of institutional work and in the field of organization after he went to Göttingen in 1912 where he occupied a double position: as professor of psychiatry and neurology and as director of the health and nursing home. Another focus of his work was, as his publications show, forensic medicine. After his retirement in 1933, a street near his workplace was named after him. Schultze was appointed in 1924 as the psychiatric expert in the case of serial killer Fritz Haarmann. His six-week discussion with Haarmann were recorded and served in 1995 as the basis for the film Der Totmacher, in which Schultze is played by Jürgen Hentsch. Schultze died on 3 September 1938 in Göttingen, aged 73. Link to Wikipedia biography (German)