[The Flemish author Hendrik Conscience (1812-1883) and the psychiatric patients of Geel]

The Flemish author Hendrik Conscience (1812-1883) whose novels were translated in the 19th century into all European languages, wrote also a mainly unknown, romantically elaborated story which was only translated into French under the title " Eene Gekkenwereld ", in which the system of psychiatric family care plays a leading rôle. After the presentation of a psychopathographic sketch of the personality of Conscience this is followed by a brief information on the contents. In this connection the psychopathologically and social-psychiatrically relevant passages are briefly examined and analysed. The work comes to the conclusion that in the literary field Conscience may be regarded as a pioneer of the humanisation of the early scientific psychiatry to which in the atmosphere of the psychiatric family care in the Flemish place Geel the social-psychiatric element had been already permanently adopted.