[Anorexia nervosa in German medical literature of the 19th century]

After its first description in 1873, anorexia nervosa seems not to have attracted much attention in countries of German language. Compared to French and English literature, German publications on the subject were rather scarce in the 19th century. This article gives an overview of those writings and an explanation of the lack of interest on the part of the German-speaking physicians. Apparently, to them anorexia nervosa did not appeal as a nosological entity distinct from the popular diagnosis of "nervous dyspepsia".