[On the road to psychiatric reform : Reconstructing the political preparation of the first Enquete Commission of the German Bundestag].

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the political preparation of the Enquete Commission of the German Bundestag which aimed at assessing and improving the psychiatric and psychotherapeutic/psychosomatic care in the Federal Republic of Germany.

METHODS: We performed a selective literature review and a hermeneutic analysis of political, parliamentary and administrative records from public archives which reflect and help reconstruct the run-up process to the so-called Enquete of psychiatry.

RESULTS: Literature and documents show how individual actors both in the mental health professions and politics bundled activities in the domains of psychiatry and mental health care as well as health/social politics; they helped to implement political, parliamentary and administrative steps leading up to the Enquete of the German Bundestag (1971-1975). In addition, the records and pertinent literature document the social, cultural and political developments in the Federal Republic of Germany which helped initiate the Enquete project.

CONCLUSION: The Enquete was not a straightforward process and was also not tied to any moment. It fits more into the longer-term reform process of psychiatry in the Federal Republic of Germany.