Alfred Hoche

Born on August 1, 1865, in Wildenhain, Alfred Erich Hoche was a German psychiatrist who later taught at the University of Freiburg. He became known in psychiatric and medical circles for his writing on mental illness, medicine, and social policy.

Hoche is now most often discussed for his role in shaping arguments around eugenics and so-called "life unworthy of life," ideas he advanced in the early 20th century. Because of that legacy, he remains a controversial and unsettling figure in the history of psychiatry.

He died on May 16, 1943, in Baden-Baden. Today, his name appears mainly in histories of medicine, ethics, and the intellectual background to Nazi-era policies.