A short summary about the history of the psychological institute

When Marbe had to retire in 1935, the recently from Argentina returned former doctoral student of Wilhelm Wundt and Ernst Meumann, Carl Jesinghaus, took over the chair. This happened against the Faculty’s will but due to pressure from the “Reichsleitung” (government) of the NSDAP. Jesinghaus succeeded in maintaining research work at the institute which was in danger of being shut down when the war began. During his ten years in Würzburg, he never published any work and was finally discharged by the military government in 1945.

From Arnold’s time in Würzburg on, the institute’s expansion and differentiation began. First, Ludwig Pongratz filled the position as head of chair II, followed closely by Otto Heller who accepted a call for chair III and this way lightened the work load from chair I and II occupying the fields of General Psychology and methodology. Heller’s main research focus laid on frame of reference research, on psycho-acoustics and on the psychological diagnosis of hearing impairment in later years. In 1982, the same chair was additionally supported by a professorship in methodology, with Hans-Peter Krüger as successful researcher within the field of traffic psychology. 

In the same year, Wilhelm Janke became Arnold’s successor. Amongst other achievements, he successfully established a research focus for pharmacological psychology in Würzburg. Only one year after his call, he expanded chair I with a professorship for Differential Psychology filled by Wilfried Hommers who made important contributions to the field of forensic psychology. Further differentiation was achieved through the nomination of Heiner Ellgring in 1991 who was in charge of the students’ education in intervention psychology. 

Considering the foundation of the Paedagogische Hochschule (Higher education institution for pedagogy) in Würzburg 1972, chair IV presents an even longer tradition: It was established early in 1959 first ran by Wilhelm Salber and later by Ludwig Pongratz. From 1969 on, Heinz Alfred Müller was in charge of this chair. It became incorporated into the faculty of educational studies in 1972 and became part of the university in 1977. In 1989, Wolfgang Schneider accepted a call for the chair and he became its representative until 1991 when he was finally announced full professor. Schneider’s research foci were memory, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. He has further done pioneering work in the diagnosis and promotion of highly talented people by introducing the Fruehstudium at the University of Wuerzburg, that is, allowing young people to attend lectures before their high school graduation. In 1994, the chair was supported through a professorship in Developmental Psychology, which was first filled with Beate Sodian. 

In a similar way Joachim Hoffmann did become a new representative for Cognitive Psychology as successor of Otto Heller in 1994. Thanks to his work, a very successful research group with a focus on cognitive aspects of human behavior arose in Würzburg.

When Pongratz became emeritus professor in 1982, it was difficult to find someone to fill his position. It was not until Fritz Strack became full professor in 1995 that the research work at the chair for Social Psychology gained international recognition. 

This expansion and differentiation period of the Würzburg institute for psychology still continues and is concomitant with a continuous growth in research, publications, externally funded projects, and last but not least students. Today, just like decades ago, the institute for psychology counts among the most acknowledged departments in Germany.