“Getting to the bottom of the mystery”

What social dynamics contribute to the emergence and spread of conspiracy theories? How do people react to hauntings in their immediate surroundings? And what everyday interpretations dominate when it comes to paranormal experiences? These and similar questions formed the starting point for a one-and-a-half-day excursion by Bayreuth students to the Institute for Border Areas of Psychology and Psychohygiene (IGPP) in Freiburg im Breisgau, led by Prof. Bernt Schnettler. The trip marked the conclusion of a collaborative seminar between lecturers and students from the Universities of Bayreuth and Freiburg on ‘The Paranormal’ from the perspectives of the sociology of religion and cultural studies. The aim of the excursion was to gain first-hand insights into the history and research priorities of the IGPP and to discuss the questions developed during the seminar with experts on site.

At the IGPP, the participants from Bayreuth were warmly welcomed by Dr Ina Schmied-Knittel and the students from Freiburg. The event began with a presentation of the “Psi-Report Deutschland”, a representative population study conducted by the IGPP under the direction of Dr Schmied-Knittel, which aims to systematically document the prevalence of extraordinary experiences. The focus was not on the question of the possible ‘objective existence’ of paranormal phenomena, but rather on the subjective experiences of these phenomena and their interpretations within different social contexts. In this context, the term ‘extraordinary experiences’ serves as an umbrella term for experiences that are interpreted in everyday life as premonitions, telepathy, hauntings or other ‘supernatural experiences’.

75 per cent of those surveyed stated that they had had such an experience at least once in their lives, meaning that the ‘Psi Report’ was able to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of extraordinary experiences amongst the German population. This calls into question the notion that such phenomena are marginal. Following a discussion on how to interpret the findings of the ‘Psi-Report’, the participants set off with clinical psychologist Eberhard Bauer, deputy director of the IGPP, on a short guided tour of the city focusing on the early days of parapsychological research in Freiburg.

Of Reich flying saucers, apparitions of Jesus and Nazi occultists

The second half of the excursion’s programme began with a guided tour of the IGPP archive. Standing amongst countless metres of shelving filled with boxes and books, archivist Andreas Fischer explained the outstanding significance of the IGPP archive for the European academic landscape and the history of parapsychology in Germany. The archive is organised into three main areas: Firstly, it comprises the estates and partial estates of key figures in the history of European parapsychology; secondly, it contains extensive archival material from the Institute’s ongoing work since 1950, including case studies on haunting phenomena and materials from empirical investigations; and thirdly, this collection is supplemented by various other collections, such as press documentation on the subject and relevant university theses.

The ideologically neutral IGPP not only conducts research but also runs a free counselling and information service for people with extraordinary – “paranormal” – experiences. A professionally trained team of psychologists and psychotherapists responds to an average of up to 70 enquiries a year, with cases ranging from “classic hauntings” to crises triggered by meditation. Ambivalence was then the focus of the lecture by the final speaker, Dominik Hugel, who examined the relationship between occultism and National Socialism. Hugel demonstrated that, on the one hand, the Nazi state resolutely opposed parapsychology, whilst on the other hand, a pragmatic approach to occult practices prevailed, provided they appeared to serve the regime.

Looking back, those two days at the “locus occultus” coalesced into an experience of engaging with a field of research which – like the subject matter itself – defies clear categorisation and definition. If anything, the central insight at the end of this brief journey is that the phenomena, practices and movements subsumed in academic research under the terms ‘occultism’ or ‘esotericism’ should not be understood exclusively in their singularity – thereby further isolating them – but rather viewed in the context of their respective lived environments.