1 
Opposite: 1. Untitled, pencil and coloured crayon on card, 56 x 43 cm (22 x 17 in)
Freda Köhler's works are part of a long tradition of mediumistic drawings, examples of which can
be found in the Prinzhorn Collection at Heidelberg University Hospital. They are characterized by
swinging and circling lines that result from free movements of the hand and arm. The creators of
this type of work try to relinquish control of the drawing hand and leave it to other forces that
seem to come from the hereafter. This is probably what Köhler describes on the back of one of
her sheets as “human abandonment of inner experience through earthly means”. There are useful
comparisons to be made with other work in the Prinzhorn Collection. For example, that of the
former chamber singer Malvina von Carolsfeld (1825–1904), the first “Isolde” in music history,
dating from 1897. With circular pencil movements she tried to establish contact with her
deceased husband, and in some of them written statements and even entire sentences from him
actually appeared on the paper through the process. Another example is a work from around
1920 by a patient named Kölla by the Zurich psychoanalyst Oskar Pfister. She saw herself as a
medium, but we know nothing else about her. She covers the whole surface of a large sheet of
paper with undulating lines, from bottom left to top right and then adds “animal-like structures” to
this “uniform rhythmic movement” (Prinzhorn). This is similar to the ways in which Köhler works,
although her images are additionally beautiful essays in colour. 
Dr Thomas Röske, Director
The Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg University Hospital
Preface

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