In 1909 Sigmund Freud published a famous case study on obsessive
compulsive disorder (OCD) that came to be known as the 'Rat Man' case
study.  The patient in the study was an Austrian military officer
whose real name was Paul Lorenz. Following successful treatment by
Freud, Paul Lorenz was subsequently killed in World War I.  How was
Paul Lorenz killed (the battle, the nature of his injuries)?  Did he
ever marry?  Was he survived by any children?

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Clarification of Question by tobyrogers-ga on 08 Dec 2003 11:59 PST

I have recently seen the Rat Man identified by the name Ernst Lanzer
(which I assume is some sort of Austrian version of Paul Lorenz).  I'm
guessing that "Ernst Lanzer" would be more likely to show up in
Austrian military records than the English translation of his name. 
He was born 1878 and died 1914.  I hope that helps.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 08 Dec 2003 16:28 PST

I have found evidence that the "Rat Man" did in fact marry and the
year it is supposed to have taken place, but I did not find his wife's
name nor any references to any potential children or about his death.

Would you like this information about his marriage as an answer or do
are you only content to accept an answer that addresses each of your
questions with definitive answers?

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by tobyrogers-ga on 09 Dec 2003 13:02 PST

Dear Tutuzdad,

I appreciate the research that you've done and I'm glad that you've
managed to find some info.  Unfortunately, I really do need the info
posed in the original question.  The crux of Freud's case is that the
Rat Man's neurosis was caused by a conflict between having to choose
between two very different women (one supported by his family, the
other was his girlfriend at the time).  The fact that he got married
suggests that he made some choice but who he chose is also important
as it gets to the heart of which path he followed.  The surviving
children is important to see if there might be any descendents still
living and how he was killed in World War I would help complete the
picture of his life (if Freud hadn't cured him, he never would have
been in the war in the first place).  I hope that helps.  Thanks again
for your hard work.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 09 Dec 2003 17:14 PST

Since it appears that we are at a dead end, I am posting my research
as a comment for you to evaluate rather than see you cancel your
question and have it go to waste. Let me know if it proves useful to
you.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Dear tobyrogers-ga;

I will post what I have found then as a comment and let you decide if
the information is of value. The answer to your question is as
mysterious as both Freud and the Rat Man himself.

The ?Rat Man? was indeed Ernst Lanzer (born 1878; died 1914), but
Freud?s own notes indicate that he was a young lawyer suffering from
mental disturbances, and probably a ?former? soldier at the time Freud
studied him.

?In the case history known as "The Rat Man," Freud tells the story of
Ernst Lanzer (1878 1914), a young lawyer plagued by powerful
obsessions involving rats, torture, and punishment.?
THE INDIVIDUAL: THERAPY AND THEORY
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/freud/freud02.html

Since Lanzer?s mental illness has already manifested itself by 1909
when Freud authored the case study about him entitled "Notes Upon a
Case of Obsessional Neurosis" it is quite unlikely that Lanzer would
have been killed on the battlefield since it appears that Freud
obviously did not study Lanzer?s case until sometime after his
neurosis became problematic. From this document then we can conclude
that Lanzer developed his problem in the military and Freud took an
interest in him some time later, making it unlikely perhaps that he
returned to the battlefield and subsequently died there (though
remotely possible I suppose):

?During the Rat Man's army service, he had become aware of an oriental
punishment in which rats??
PSYCHIATRY ONLINE
?THE HERMENEUTIC VERSUS THE SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTION OF PSYCHOANALYSIS:
AN UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORT TO CHART A VIA MEDIA FOR THE HUMAN SCIENCES?
http://www.pol-it.org/ital/grunba2.htm

Apparently, from what I can gather from this article, Lanzer?s mental
illness was substantially impacted by his father?s rejection of him
due to (among many other things) his long time incestuous relationship
with his cousin, Gisela Adler (a search for information about her
proved fruitless, by the way):

?One of Freud?s patients was the so-called Rat-man, a young
29-year-old man. His real name was Ernst Lanzer and his obsessive
syndrome had practically begun following the death of his father, some
years before--the neurosis appeared in the form of an unresolved
mourning.? [Page 11]

?In fact his father had disapproved of his relationship with his
cousin, perhaps due to its incestuous aspect.? [Page 11]

?Gisela too is poor, and also probably sterile? [Page 12]

?After his lady?s departure he became prey to an obsession for
understanding which made him a curse to all his companions.? [Page 16]

RITUAL CERTIFICATION
http://www.estadosgerais.org/mundial_rj/download/5_Benvenuto_12220703_ingl.pdf

Freud himself mentions ?his lady?s departure? (in reference to an
irreconcilable argument Lanzer had with Gisela) in his letter to his
on-again-off-again disciple Carl C. Jung, about Lanzer?s increasingly
odd behavior. So, we know by this that Lanzer did not marry Gisela,
or, as a rule, Freud would probably have known for certain whether she
was actually sterile or not instead of merely speculating that she
was.

Another article however hints that Lanzer did in fact marry, which
kept me motivated to search for more references like the one found
here:

?And one of the dreadful thoughts with which he was obsessed was that
just this rat punishment would victimize both the woman whom he
eventually married, and his father, whom he loved and who had actually
been dead for years by then.?
PSYCHIATRY ONLINE
http://www.pol-it.org/ital/grunba2.htm

Here we learn that Freud, in another letter to Carl G. Jung, does in
fact state that Lanzer later married:

?As above stated, Freud began the treatment of the Rat Man in October
1907 and continued it until September 1908. He remained in touch with
him for some time afterwards; thus we learn from the letters Freud
wrote to Jung that the Rat Man had married in the fall of 1910.?
FREUD, JUNG AND HALL THE KINGMAKER
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg12167.html

By 1913 however Freud was speculating that Jung himself was unstable
and sought to sever the professional ties between them and no more
letters would be nearly as forthcoming on the case as the ones prior
to their estrangement.

FREUD?S LETTER TO JUNG
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/freud/ex/131.html

Freud appears to have refrained from confiding in anyone else so
closely ever again with regard to Ernst Lanzer?s case and from here it
appears that Lanzer and his wife, whoever she might have been, simply
faded into obscurity.

?In fact Freud did not publish a case history of a male patient until
the "Rat Man" in 1909, and he was to insist on the fragmentary and
incomplete character of all his published cases.?
?FREUD'S UNWRITTEN CASE: THE PATIENT "E."?
http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/freud_e.html

It should be noted that no where does Freud indicate that the ?Rat
Man? was cured, or even that Freud SOUGHT to ?cure? him of his bizarre
obsessions. Freud?s interest in Lanzer?s condition seems to be more
clinical in nature rather than therapeutic and in the end, both appear
to have eventually parted ways, each having served the purposes of the
other.


As I said, I am posting this as a comment rather than an answer so you
can see if what I was able to find is of any value. If not, I hope it
leads you to the answer you are seeking.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher


INFORMATION SOURCES


WORDLY POWERS: A POLITICAL READING OF THE RAT MAN 
(cached document)
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:w6i97yTMkzYJ:www.metrostate.edu/cgi-bin/troxy/lproxy.cgi/URL-muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_imago/v058/58.2brunner.html+%22ernst+lanzer%22+marry&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

You may get lucky and find what you are looking for in ?FREUD AND THE
RAT MAN? by Patrick J. Mahony (1986). I tried to acquire the book
today from my local library but they did not have it. Amazon, however,
does:

FREUD AND THE RAT MAN
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0300036949/qid=1071017408/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5218872-9076021?v=glance&s=books


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com

Dear Tutuzdad,

I too found "Freud and the Rat Man" on Amazon.com but was disappointed
that I could not search inside the book.  Today I found a copy of it
at the library and it had all of the answers I was looking for. 
Patrick Mahony did a phenomenal job of researching the life of the Rat
Man--even traveling to Austria to look up records and see the places
where he lived.  So putting some of the mystery to rest:

Ernst Lanzer married his cousin Gisela Adler in 1910 (Gisela was the
girlfriend he loved rather than the woman his mom wanted him to
marry).

The couple never had any children (Gisela had an ovariectomy in 1899).  

Ernst was activated into the army in August 1914 (he had previously
served one year in the military and seemed to be in some sort of
reserves thereafter).  He was captured by the Russians on November 21,
1914 and died four days later (it was unclear whether it was from
injuries, the elements or if he was executed).

Gisela never remarried and died in 1933 of polyarthritis and pneumonia.  

Alas even with the wonders of the internet, the good old fashion
library still has some good answers.