[Wilhelm Griesinger and community care]

In Germany, the concept of community-based care with the aim of a far-reaching integration of mentally ill and disabled into society was already established by W. Griesinger in the last century. He proposed asylums, located in the cities and linked to general hospitals, for short-term treatment of the acute mentally ill. He pointed out that a short-term inpatient stay can only be achieved when hospital and natural support systems cooperate closely. He never assumed that all kinds of mental illnesses can be cured, but thought that most inpatients could be discharged from hospital even though some would be in need of sheltered living conditions. Today, W. Griesinger's proposals are accepted worldwide. In 1975, a German expert commission submitted a report utilizing Griesinger's ideas as indispensable components of a modern psychiatric care system.