I have a strange query. I recently learned that my great-grandfather, Maximilian Langer, died in the District-Lunatic Asylum in Göttingen, on 31 Jan, 1896, and I have a copy of the report of his death from the city archives in Goettingen.
This is very mysterious -- Max was a resident of Bremerhaven and was not a wealthy man in any way -- I can't understand why he would be in an institution 180 miles from his home. The asylum was (and still is, under a more enlightened name) attached to the University of Goettingen; the only thing I can think of is that for some reason his case was of sufficient interest to someone at the university that he would have been sent there.
This is a tremendous long shot, I know. Does anyone know anything about this institution and whether there might be historical records somewhere? I've gotten a small book, written by Ludwig Meyer, the asylum's director, about the first 25 years of its history, but it was published in 1890 and of course doesn't include any information about patients. Nevertheless, I am painstakingly (and painfully) translating the chapter on treatment of the patients, because I'm dying to know what the conditions were.
I have sent an email to the current institution and am waiting for a reply, but I just wondered whether anyone, particularly in Germany, might know anything about this institution.