Man is inhabited by the unknown, the unconscious. "In him is an It, something wonderful which regulates everything that he does and that happens to him." For what has breathing to do with our will, what is it that decides how our food is masticated and digested, that regulates the beating of the heart? We are human beings due solely to the wilful act of the All and the It. As an admirer of Groddeck's, Lawrence Durrell, says in an attempt to explain his philosophy, the It is not a thing in itself, it is a way of knowing, a pathway towards life as a human being, towards the illusion of becoming a personality, an I.

Georg Groddeck was born on 13 October 1866 in Bad Kösen on the river Saale. His mother was the daughter of A. Koberstein, a Germanist and teacher of Nietzsche; his father was a spa physician. Groddeck spent his childhood with his sister in their parents' house, which had to be auctioned in 1878 after their father had been ruined by building speculations. Groddeck attended the Alumnat Schulpforta, received his school-leaving certificate in 1885, and then began military training in Berlin. He did his doctorate under Ernst Schweninger, the private physician of both Bismark and Cosima Wagner, and later became his collaborator. Based on Schweninger's methods, Groddeck developed his own form of treatment, which consisted mainly of massage, baths and diet.

In addition to his activities as a physician, Groddeck gave lectures (which he regarded as part of his therapy), initiated the inauguration of a consumers' cooperative and a cooperative building association, and published his writings: the essay Ein Frauenproblem in 1902, an autobiographical novel Ein Kind der Erde in 1905, the story Der Pfarrer von Langewiesche in 1909, the lecture series "Hin zu Gottnatur" in 1909, and Nasamecu - natura sanat, medicus curat in 1913.

Independently of Freud, Groddeck developed a new medical practice, convinced that each disorder of the organism, irrespective of whether it is called psychological or physical, can be influenced by means of psychological analysis. Groddeck served as director of a military hospital during the First World War, but came into conflict with his superiors because of his over-precise and long-drawn-out treatment of the mainly war-traumatised soldiers and was dismissed after only nine months.

Encouraged by his friendship with the Swedish woman Emmy von Voigt, who was to become his second wife, and by his new analytical ideas, Groddeck began his Wednesday Lectures at the sanatorium. His Lectures (first published in 1987 ff. by the GGG in three volumes) consist of a self-analysis, descriptions of life and the everyday, dream interpretations, interpretations of the Bible and of fairy tales; they celebrate the diversity of human life and the expressive forms it takes through the It.

Groddeck wrote to Freud in 1917, confessed his wishful thinking that he himself had discovered the concept of psychoanalysis, and sent him his text Psychische Bedingtheit and psychoanalytische Behandlung organischer Leiden, which is regarded today as a pioneering work of psychosomatics. "I have to claim you", Freud replied, "I have to assert that you are a splendid analyst who has understood for ever the essential aspects of the matter."

Groddeck courted Freud in his Letters (Freud-Groddeck correspondence, edited by the GGG 2008) and sent him manuscripts which Freud allowed to be published in the journals of the Psychoanalytische Vereinigung and in the Internationale Psychoanalytische Verlag.Psychische Bedingtheit and psychoanalytische Behandlung organischer Leiden, which is regarded today as a pioneering work of psychosomatics. "I have to claim you", Freud replied, "I have to assert that you are a splendid analyst who has understood for ever the essential aspects of the matter."

In addition to his lectures, Groddeck began another method of therapy with the publication in 1918 of the house magazine Satanarium. "In publishing these pages I aim to give man an opportunity to vent his agony unimpeded, without shame or reserve. In my view, the only place where you can scream seems to be hell, which is why I am calling this magazine Satanarium" (published by the GGG 1992).

In 1921 Groddeck published the psychoanalytical novel Seeker of Souls (newly edited by the GGG 1998). This book combines analysis and a satirical critique of the times with coarse situation comedy; what really drives the action is associations and interpretations of words and symbols into whose traps the protagonists fall in their analytical adventures.

Groddeck's The Book of the It (newly edited by the GGG 2004), which appeared in 1923, was a truly popular book of psychoanalysis: easy to read and with an amazing openness, it is a singular variation on the theme of how the whole body, be it sick or healthy, is an instrument of the soul.

As a physician, Groddeck was much sought-after and his sanatorium was visited by patients from the upper classes of society; he treated the needy free-of-charge.Seeker of Souls (newly edited by the GGG 1998). This book combines analysis and a satirical critique of the times with coarse situation comedy; what really drives the action is associations and interpretations of words and symbols into whose traps the protagonists fall in their analytical adventures.

The Book of the It (newly edited by the GGG 2004), which appeared in 1923, was a truly popular book of psychoanalysis: easy to read and with an amazing openness, it is a singular variation on the theme of how the whole body, be it sick or healthy, is an instrument of the soul.

He was invited to lecture in England, the Netherlands and Sweden. In 1920 he became a member of the Internationale Psychoanalytische Vereinigung. He made a spectacular appearance at the Psychoanalytische Kongress in The Hague. During an impromptu lecture, in which he analysed his own bed-wetting and unusual associations, he confessed, "I am a wild analyst". Most of the congress participants were shocked by Groddeck's speech.

A close friendship existed between Groddeck and the Hungarian psychoanalyst Sandor Ferenczi, whom he also analysed (Ferenczi-Groddeck correspondence, newly edited by the GGG 2006).

In 1925 Groddeck experimented once again with a patients' magazine: Die Arche ran to 62 issues with a print-run of never more than 300 copies (reprint newly edited by GGG 2001).

Groddeck held his last lecture in Zurich on 2 June 1934: Vom Sehen, von der Welt des Auges and vom Sehen ohne Augen. His health deteriorated in the days that followed and he was admitted to the Medard Boss sanatorium in Knonau, where he died on June 11. He is buried at the Stadtfriedhof in Baden-Baden.

In the Oos-Winkel-Siedlung in Baden-Baden, which he helped to initiate, a plaque commemorates his contribution; there is also a road named after him. The former Sanatorium Marienhöhe still exists today - little changed on the outside - as Hotel Tanneck. The city library had devoted a literary memorial to Groddeck. In 1984 an underground memorial was installed at the place where once stood the hut in which he completed his The Book of the It.

The Georg Groddeck estate has been in the Deutsche Literaturarchiv in Marbach on the river Neckar since 1997.

The edition of his works being edited by the Georg Groddeck-Gesellschaft is published by Stroemfeld Verlag, Frankfurt am Main /Basel.