Carl Stumpf and Berlin

Carl Stumpf (1848–1936) was born in Wiesentheid, Bavaria, to prominent parents. By the age of seven, Carl was playing the violin, and soon mastered five additional instruments and was composing his own music. A sickly child, Carl was first tutored at home by his grandfather. He eventually enrolled at the University of Würzburg, where he was greatly influ- enced by Brentano. From Würzburg, Stumpf went on to the University of Göttingen, where he earned his doctorate in 1868 with Lotze. He then returned to Würzburg and again attended Brentano’s lectures. Deciding to become a priest, Stumpf entered the Catholic seminary in 1869. However, like Brentano, he couldn’t accept the newly announced dogma of papal infallibility, so he returned to Göttingen for postdoctoral study. Following this, Stumpf held sev- eral academic positions, but in 1893 he accepted the chair of psychology at the University of Berlin— one of Germany’s most prestigious schools. This appointment both established psychology as an independent discipline within the university and cemented its academic credibility. At Berlin, Stumpf created a psychological laboratory (later to become a “psychological institute”) that was soon to rival Wundt’s at Leipzig.