[Development of diagnostic classification systems in psychiatry]

The author presents a historical account of classifications of mental disorders. He follows the development from simple classifications at the onset of the 19th century via Morel's, Kraepelin's, Kuffner's and Bleuler's classification to the new diagnostic classification of North American psychiatrists (DSM-III), International classification of diseases (ICD 10) to the contemporary multiaxial classification of mental disorders.