![]() ![]() ![]() Brücke’s materialistic views on science were opposed by Hyrtl, who favored traditional philosophical and religious dogma on science and medicine ( Seebacher, 2006). Interactions between scientists and artists were common in the intellectually curious Vienna, and modernist ideas in art and science periodically clashed with the traditionally conservative values of Viennese society ( Kandel, 2012). The influence of Brücke and Helmholtz led Freud to conceive of the human mind as a stream of psychological 'energy', or libido, which is continuously transformed (as in Helmholtz’s law of the conservation of energy) into thoughts and behaviors. Among those he trained were Ludwig Mauthner, whose description of the nerve cells in fish ( Seyfarth and Zottoli, 1991) has been central to my own research for the last thirty years, and Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Another recruit was Ernst von Brücke, the German physiologist who (with Emil Du Bois-Reymond, Carl Ludwig and Hermann von Helmholtz) argued that all physiological processes can be explained by underlying physical or chemical mechanisms, thus countering the theory of 'vitalism' that prevailed at the time ( White, 2006).īrücke went on to have a prominent role in the scientific development of the university. Other prominent physicians in Vienna around this time included the surgeon Theodor Billroth, the clinician Josef Skoda, and the anatomist Josef Hyrtl. Rokitansky introduced more scientific approaches to medicine and was a pioneer in the field of pathology. In the sciences, the Second Vienna Medical School led by Carl von Rokitansky put Vienna at the center of modern western medicine. The Vienna Secession movement, led by Gustav Klimt among others, involved artists breaking away from mainstream art organizations and government control to explore the modernist ideas that were emerging in Berlin, Munich and other European cities. The modernization of the city’s architectural landscape was mirrored by developments in the arts and sciences, which reached new levels of excellence during this period. The centerpiece of this transformation was the replacement of the traditional walls of the city by a wide avenue, the Ringestrasse, which provided space for the construction of a number of new public buildings ( Rentetzi, 2004). The city of Vienna underwent a major transformation during the second half of the 19th century. ![]()
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