Jung's Grandfather

Wolfgottesacker Cemetery, Basel, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Claudia N.

Wolfgottesacker Cemetery, Basel, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Claudia N.

A listener in Switzerland was kind enough to send me this photo of the gravesite of Jung’s paternal grandfather, Carl Gustav Jung {1794-1864} who, Word & Image says, is often jokingly called “C.G. Jung I.”

I’ve tweeted a lot about him over the years as he seemed an interesting fellow. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Born in Mannheim, Germany, and graduated from the University of Heidelberg with a doctorate in medicine

2. Rumored to be an illegitimate son of Goethe’s {this is even mentioned in the correspondence between Jung and Freud}

3. Arrested as a “demagogue” and spent 13 months in prison

4. Married 3 times and fathered 13 children

5. Went to Paris and met Alexander von Humboldt who secured him a chair at the University of Basel

6. Responsible for the creation of their psychiatric clinic and founded the Home of Good Hope for retarded children

7. Became rector of the University of Basel and a Grand Master of the Swiss Lodge of Freemasons

Jung’s paternal grandmother, Sophie Jung Frey {1812-1855} is also buried there. She was Carl I’s third wife and daughter of the mayor of Basel. Their second son was Jung’s father, Johann Paul Achilles Jung {1842-1896}.

Notice that the stone is inscribed “Dr. Karl Gustav Jung.” No where in the book, C.G. Jung: Word & Image, edited by someone who knew him well, Aniela Jaffé, is he referred to as “Karl.” But I found this…

“The child who became the world-renowned psychologist C.G. Jung was christened Karl Gustav II Jung, after his illustrious grandfather Carl Gustav I Jung, but with the spelling of his first name modernized. His parents did observe the old Swiss custom of indicating that he was the second to bear it by placing the Roman numeral between his given and family names.” ~Deirdre Bair, Jung: A Biography, p. 7

“Paul and Emilie gave their son the modern spelling of his name, Karl, but he changed it to the original family form when he was a university student. As far back as the Jung family’s history and genealogy can be traced, to approximately 1650, in Mainz, Germany, Carl was a popular name.” ~Deirdre Bair, ibid, p. 8

Below are two more photos from the cemetery, Friedhof Wolfgottesacker Basel, located at Münchensteinerstrasse 99, 4053 Basel, Switzerland. Thank you to Claudia N. for sharing them with us.


Wolfgottesacker Cemetery, Basel, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Claudia N.

Wolfgottesacker Cemetery, Basel, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Claudia N.

Wolfgottesacker Cemetery, Basel, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Claudia N.

Wolfgottesacker Cemetery, Basel, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Claudia N.