Oswald Külpe, Psychologist

* August 3, 1862 in Kandau
† December 30, 1915 in Munich

From 1881 Külpe studied history and philology in Leipzig where he met the „Father of German Psychology“ Wilhelm Wundt and did his doctorate under Wundt’s supervision in 1887 with interruptions in Berlin and Göttingen. He stayed in Leipzig as Wundt’s assistant until 1894 when he was appointed to the chair of philosophy and aesthetics in Würzburg where he founded the Psychological Institute in 1896. In 1909, he accepted an offer from Bonn, in 1914 one from Munich.

Particularly as the founder of the “Würzburger Schule” Külpe achieved special fame. Though it was rejected as unscientific by Wundt and his inner circle of students due to its inclusion/integration of interviews and reflections of its experimental subjects, it particularly attracted great attention in the course of the Cognitive Turn (Kognitive Wende) in the second half of the 20^th century and had already anticipated many central issues. Beside psychology Külpe was interested in epistemology while supporting a critical realism which found its way into Külpe’s life work Die Realisierung. Ein Beitrag zur Grundlegung der Realwissenschaften.

His former home was at Friedrich-Ebert-Ring 1. Furthermore, he lived at Paradeplatz 4.