Richard von Krafft-Ebing was born in 1840 in Manheim, Germany, then known as the territory of Baden, to Friedrich von Krafft-Ebing and Clara Antonia Mittermaier. His father's position in society was that of nobility, holding the senior rank of Oberamtmann, comparable to the British designation Baron; thus adding the title Freiherr to his full name of Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing. His mother Clara, a socialite and daughter of a prominent German lawyer, gave birth to him within a year of her marriage, around the age of nineteen. In the fourteen years that followed she gave birth to three more children, the youngest and second most famous being Hans Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing. He died the following year at the age of thirty-five or earlier. Around this time, at the age of fourteen, Krafft-Ebing was sent to live with his maternal grandfather, Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, presumably the spark that ignited young Krafft-Ebing's interest in the intersection of medicine and law, nicknamed "forensic". As a child Krafft-Ebing proved to be quite skilled at the piano, and numerous anecdotes from his future colleagues tell of him playing for the patients he served in various mental institutions, sometimes improvising a humorous song on the spot. This commitment, in no way related to his professional duties, is a realistic example of his belief that new and community activities contributed to patient well-being, discussed later in this text. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Krafft-Ebing began his studies at Heidelberg University, entering a medical and academic environment completely unimaginable for modern students of medicine or psychology; surgeries were performed in open rooms and often witnessed by journalists and not students, psychiatry was barely recognized as a science and therefore not required for a medical degree, “crazy” and “perversion” were legitimate medical terms, and “methods” how hypnotism and craniometry were actually taken into serious consideration. It was here, in this demure but curious Victorian environment, still capable of giving nightmares to anyone who opened a Psychology 101 text, that Krafft-Ebing cultivated theories and friendships that would span the rest of his life. Of particular importance is the relationship that was established between him and Heinrich Schüle, a fellow student from Heidelberg, a lifelong friend and the future author of Krafft-Ebing's obituary. Following his life's path, it soon becomes clear that Krafft-Ebing intended to pursue an academic path. as well as a clinical position from the start. In Germany in the 1800s, the process of starting a medical practice differed greatly from current procedures; a student could complete medical coursework and immediately begin practice after obtaining a license from a government agency. However, if a doctorate is desired, the interested student will have to take an additional written and oral exam, provide a thesis, and spend a significant amount of money. These additional steps are a requiem for modern doctoral seekers and do not appear strange or cumbersome; but when considered in the Victorian context, a doctorate did not offer privileges even remotely comparable to the present day. It was simply an academic designation, so most students of the time didn't mind the effort; Krafft-Ebing did so, returning to Heidelberg for graduation in late 1863 from Zurich, where he had spent the previous months recovering from typhoid fever. Toward the end of his recovery he participated in a demonstration..