Obituarie Journal of the Society for PsychiAPPMved For Release P*173 6YhROOO7OO650007-3 2DOOJO&Mf~ CIA-RD Randi and others. Another remarkable psychic investigated that he was able to finish. In that piece, Bender by Benson Herbert describes how, as a seventeen was Suzanne Padfield, the British clairvoyant whose ear-old boy staying in London with a family ability in psychometry with spiritualist leanings, h ' led to the discovery of a child-killer 1700 miles y away in ressed, Moscow. In the took part in automatic spelling by using the Ouija board: "I was imp "by the obvious 'intelligent' production of Paralab an experiment involved the displacement the messages bu of a polarised light beam. rote he w Miss Padfield, together with the designer of much , of the experimental skeptical in regard to their alleged origin, i namely 'discarnate' entities. Thi equipment (Brian Baily), placed her hands around primary experience influenced my life." the collimating tube and i ' sucessfully .In the years between 1925 and 1933 Bender studied distorted' the light path in a consistent manner. French literatur( More recent projects at the Paralab have included philosophy and psychology in Paris, Heidelberg an investigation into and Bonn. It was especiall psychic healing, experiments with bacteria and viruses lectures given by the French psychiatrist Pierre and the study of Janet z after attending the dermo-optics, including the ability to sense colours the Coll6ge de France in Paris and after studying and writing through the Janet's classic work o fingers. This latter work in collaboration with Bender decided to study experimental] Yvonne Duplessis LAutomatisme Psychologique that (Paris) may assist blind and colour-blind people in their daily cesses at the Psychological Institute lives. Over the 12 the dynamics of subconscious pro LSt ten years I have been involved with the Paralab as a Bonn University, supported by the head of the member of technical and Institute, the philosophy observati( and psychologist Erich Rothaker. Bender was xperimental support teams, designing and building intrigued by the equipment when necessary 1e to exhibit 'intelligent' activities on that some of his subjects were ab hich would be used for the biophysical measurement of subjects during a I variety of clairvoyance and PK psi-related experiments. subconscious' level (as documented by their automatic writing) while th( It is paradoxical, I think, that such a character self was seemingly unaware of such complicated as Benson Herbert should processes. In su consci P a state of dissociation, some of the automatic rovoke controversy from the spiritualist and physicist productions included traces ends of the paranoymal investigation community alike. He would be pleased information which thei producers appeared not perhaps to think so. to have acquired throu I ir ee with a the Benson's quest, I believe, was not to explain away conventional means. In 1933 Bender obtained paranormal phenomena in his Ph.D. degr terms of physical -particle on Psychische Automatismen [Mental Automatisms], theories or cause- and- effect relationships, but in which he successfu to ' investigate the nature of ps I inked subconscious productions with the problem phenomena in the hope that his findings, t of ESP. A seco th r Qge C with the problems left by classical and theoretical contribution devoted exclusively to the study physics, of clairvoyance un, could be combined to allow a fuller understanding of the Universe laboratory conditions followed shortly after around us. and was published in The quarterly International Journal of Paraphys* prestigious Zeitschrift flir Psychologie [journal Zcs has been published of Psychology] in 19 from 1968 into the 1990s and has included Paralab just before he finished his paper, the philosopher reports periodically. Gerda Walther, acting 2~ Over the years much correspondence on behalf of clearing-house for relevant information, had the SPR has been taken up sent him the recently-publis) by the Paralab staff. book Extrasensory Perception by J. B. Rhine. Bender always stressed Laboratory of Cogitie,2VeurosC importance of that book in strengthening his zence T desire to introduce parapsycl ONY DICKINSON ogical research into a German university in University of Edinburgh an institutionalised form-a de 7 George Square, Edinburgh. EH8 9jZ vigorously supported by a prominent German professor of philosoph,, those years, namely Hans Driesch, who had published in 1932 the German methodological introduction to the field, his well-known b Parapsychologie: die Wissenschaft von den 'okkulten'Erscheinungen. In o HANS BENDER: "FRONTIER SCIENTIST" to be as well equipped as possible to realise -A PERSONAL TRIBUTE such an ambitious project, Bei finished his additional studies of medicine and began training as a psychia however, completing that medical specialisation. Professor Bender's death-he died in Freiburg on After the outb 7th May at the age of 84 without has closed an important chapter of German Post , -war parapsychology. In my of war, he had to finish off his 'habilitation' in 1941 with experimental N opinions any future historian who finds it worthwhile on eidetic imagery and crystal-gazing, and he to pay a closer look at was awarded a professorsh Parapsychology in general will surely rank Hans Bender among the pioneers Strasbourg University, where he founded an 'Institute for Psychology of German psi research who, like Albert von Schrenck Clinical Psychology,'belonging to the Philosophical -Notzing or Rudolf as well ass the Me Tischner (among others), faculty, which he directed until 1944 when Strasbourg Spent most of their professional lives strugg ing was liberated b-, for I the advancement and recognition of our field. Allied forces. So, let me first recapitulate some data of Bender's bio aphy and then give The 'official' beginning of German post-war gr parapsychology can be ti an impression of Bender's personal 'ausstrahlung', back with some justification to 195 0. In that his special 'aura'. year, Bender was able to op Hans Bender was born in 1907 in Freiburg. In 1987 his native town of Freiburg im Breisgwa the he wrote a doors of his somewhat miracul, shoat autobiographical note for Rosemarie Pilkington' s book, Men and Women in financed 'Institut ftir Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohyg m a h' [Institute for Fringe Areas of Psychology and ParaPsychology, which repfesents last contribution Mental Health], whicl- to the field e ls d"Ps A r , ' o ve O P r R P elease 2000108111 : CIA-RI)P96-00792ROO07006,50007-3 125 124 Journal of the Society for Psychical Research [Vol. 5 8, No. 825 substantially funded in the ensuing years by a legacy from the Swiss biologist and poltergeist researcher, Dr Fanny Moser, who died in 1953. On ie year later there followed the establishment of a Chair for 'Fringe Areas of Psychology' at Freiliurg University. It was the first step towards the official recognition of CO) parapsychology as a legitimate field of study. In 1967 the chair was extended to cover general psychology as well as fringe areas of psychology (parapsych 0 ology), and additionally a Department for Fringe Areas of Psychology was 0 W) established at the Psychological Institute of Freiburg University. One year to later, in 1968, Bender hosted the eleventh PA Convention in Freiburg, and he served as PA President for 1969. After his mandatory retirement from the university chair in 1975, his colleague Johannes Mischo took it over, whereas Bender remained until his death the Director of the independent Institut at 0 Eichhalde 12. X In a sense, the 'Eichhalde-Institut' was Bender's most personal creat'ion. C*4 0) For decades it represented in the Federal Republic of Germany an unrivalled centre for parapsychological research, information and advice, inspired by the tireless efforts of its founder. Quite a number of active workers in the field c6 got their first impressions of psi research by visiting the Bender institute. An (D endless stream of visitors from all over the world were full of praise for its beautiful location overlooking the Rhine valley (I mean the river, of course) W and the hospitality of its director. Among the visitors were mediums and magicians, astrologers and ufologists, dowsers and numerologists, witches and healers, gurus and charlatans, spiritualists and hostile sceptics, psychotics and serious scientists; classes of students, TV teams and hard-nosed journalists -they all came to Freiburg to see and to talk to the famous professor. Hans Ir- Bender's university lectures, courses and seminars won legendary fame among CO generations of Freiburg students. "Wir gehen zur Benders Mdrchenstunde" [We are going to listen to Bender's fairy tales] was a proverbial saving of 0 those years. Bender's regular lectures on Tuesday afternoons between five 0 and six which he held for decades at the 'Aula' of Freiburg University (he C4 invariably arrived late) were always overcrowded with hundreds of people; not (D u) only university students, from the humanities as well as the natural sciences, CC but also 'ordinary' people from the city of Freiburg who were interested in (D th.e 'occult' or paranormal. In general, Bender's audience was enthralled, with mixed feelings of amusement and fascination, as the professor, with his face lit only by a reading lamp and the lecture theatre in pitch darkness, began to o report on experiences, phenomena and events which seemed to transcend the LL usual categories of space and time -parapsychology at its best. It was on such 13 q) public occasions that Bender's charismatic personality could be felt with all > its suggestive power -nobody was able to present his researches on certain 2 poltergeist' phenomena or metal-benders in such a convincing manner-and CL boring questions regarding trivial details could easily be compared to a crimen CL majestatis, a 1~se-majest~. Many of Bender's audience had the feeling that the lecturer behind the reading desk was not just an ordinary professor presenting his usual subject-matter, but that, on the contrary, they were listening to somebody who was completely convinced of the apparently unbelievable that most of his fellow scientists would mock at. So, Hans Bender was the prototype of a 'frontier scientist'. It is impossible to separate the man from 126 October 19911 Obituaries his work. His personal style of life determined his style of work and vice versa. Hans Bender's 'search for psi' was not only a search for objective' data and records, a deep-seated curiosity it was also a personal 'quest for the grail', s beyond the visible horizon or conventional for phenomena and experience venturer always in search of new and boundaries. He was a scientific ad surprising facts, It was impossible for him to separate the para~3rrnal ing 1T., and phenomenon he was after from the persons who were experienc qmt the so, time and again, he was prepared,;for new encounters to learn abN of Bender's basic convictions in dealing with the elugeness paranormal. One otional or ai&ctive of psi was the importance of an 'affektives Feld' [ern re (?as no atalyst', he often maintained, the fieldl. Without such a positive 'c successful psi-experimentation. psychic functioning, let alone Bender's contributions to the field are multi-faceted, but foremost~imong his research interests was qualitative and field work. I hardly need iMntior s of RSPK cases--the topic o9is PA that he was the investigator of dozen Idential Address - among them the famous Rosenheim poltergetA case Pres work on the problem of precogkkion. irical another important area was emp I with the Dutch p(Wgnos- need only point to the so-called 'chair experiments tiv in 'collaborati9i witl Gerard Croiset, developed and performed frequen , eardgof th, his friend Wilhelm Tenhaeff, or the study of the precognitive dr Harnburg actress Mrs Mylius. o- bituary to his friend Tenhaeff, Bender wrote: "H(Qried t, In 1981, in an 0 ormal in its entirety to a scientific communAX whic' make visible the paran struck with blindness with regard to a4hidde was, with a few exceptions, s legacy which he If" for h reality' -. May I say that that is also Hans Bender' and colleagues who are missing him. friends EE3ERHARD E*U E R Rbmerstrasse 17 00 D-7814 Breisach 3, GERMANY. 0 C!1 0 C4 BOOKs RECEIVED (D arian Press 1991 (first published 1*) - Altman, Nathaniel Discover Palmistry Aqu Light Aquarian Press 1991 - (with iQot pac Ashcroft-Nowicki, Dolores The Servants of SynchronicitY State UWversitY Aziz, Robert C. G_ Jung's Psychology of Religion and W New York Press, Albany 1990. a,London I Church, Dawson and Sherr, Alan The Heart of the Healer Arkan 9(,Y - tate Element Books, Shaftesbury 1991- LL Cowan, James Letters from a Wild S Bog6s, Shaf Deunov, Peter (ed. David Lorimer) The circle of Sacred Dance Element (D bury 1991 - > Fenton, Sasha Super Tarot Aquarian Press, London 1991. ublished lEt4). Gilchrist, Cherry The circle of Nine A,kana, London 1991 (first P of NeAXork Py Griffin, David Ray The Re-Enchantment of Science State University CL Albany 1988. %91 (1 Gullan-Whur, margaret Discover Graphology Aquarian Press, London published 1986). e Tongues of Men and Angels Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, Hastings, Arthur With th Worth 1991. 127