Carl Jung Timeline

(1875 - 1961)

Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Once a close collaborator of Sigmund Freud, Jung broke away to develop his own theories, including the concepts of the collective unconscious, archetypes, introversion and extraversion, individuation, and synchronicity. His work profoundly influenced psychiatry, anthropology, literature, and religious studies. More Less

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Early Life and Education

Birth of Carl Gustav Jung

Jul 26, 1875

Carl Gustav Jung was born in Kesswil, Switzerland, into a family of Protestant clergy. His father was a poor rural pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church, and Jung's early exposure to religious themes and his mother's psychological instability deeply influenced his later interest in the inner life and the psyche.

Image source: Carl Jung

Jung moves to Basel

1879

After his father received a better position, the Jung family moved to Klein-Hüningen near Basel. Jung spent much of his childhood in relative isolation, developing a rich inner fantasy life that he would later draw upon when formulating his theories of the unconscious.

Jung enrolls at the University of Basel

1895

Jung began studying medicine at the University of Basel. He initially intended to specialize in archaeology but was drawn to psychiatry after reading Krafft-Ebing's textbook, which convinced him that the study of psychic phenomena could unite his scientific and spiritual interests.

Image source: University of Basel

Jung earns medical degree

Dec 1900

Jung completed his medical studies at the University of Zurich (Basel and Zurich) with a dissertation on the occult psychology of mediums, titled 'On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena,' which foreshadowed his lifelong interest in the unconscious.

Jung marries Emma Rauschenbach

Feb 14, 1903

Jung married Emma Rauschenbach, heiress to a wealthy Swiss industrial family. Their marriage lasted until her death in 1955, and Emma herself became a respected analyst and author on the Grail legend and the anima concept.

Image source: Emma Jung

Career and Analytical Psychology

Jung joins Burghölzli psychiatric hospital

Dec 1900

Jung became an assistant to Eugen Bleuler at the Burghölzli clinic in Zurich, one of Europe's leading psychiatric institutions. There he conducted pioneering word association experiments that provided empirical evidence for the existence of emotionally charged unconscious complexes.

Image source: Burghölzli

First meeting of Jung and Freud

Mar 3, 1907

Jung met Sigmund Freud in Vienna, and they reportedly talked for thirteen hours straight. Freud saw in Jung a potential heir to psychoanalysis, and Jung became an enthusiastic champion of Freud's ideas, helping establish the movement beyond Vienna.

Image source: The Freud/Jung Letters

Jung travels to America with Freud

1909

Freud and Jung traveled together to the United States to deliver lectures at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. The lectures introduced American audiences to psychoanalysis, though tensions between the two men were already beginning to surface during this voyage.

Image source: Clark University

Jung becomes first president of the IPA

1910

Jung was appointed the first president of the International Psychoanalytical Association at Freud's urging, cementing his position as the designated successor to Freud within the young psychoanalytic movement.

Image source: International Psychoanalytical Association

Final break between Jung and Freud

Jan 1913

The relationship between Jung and Freud ruptured completely over theoretical disagreements, particularly regarding the nature of libido and the role of sexuality. Jung resigned as editor of the psychoanalytic journal, and Freud wrote that they should abandon their personal relationship entirely.

Jung begins his 'confrontation with the unconscious'

1913 - 1916

Following the break with Freud and his resignation from the University of Zurich professorship, Jung underwent a period of intense self-experimentation, recording visions and fantasies in the 'Red Book' (Liber Novus). This crisis generated many of his core concepts, including active imagination and the collective unconscious.

Image source: The Red Book (Jung)

Founding of the Psychological Club in Zürich

1916

Jung and his followers established the Psychological Club in Zürich to organize the growing community of analysts practicing his method. This institution became a hub for the development and dissemination of analytical psychology.

Jung visits Pueblo peoples in New Mexico

Jan 1925

During his American travels, Jung visited the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, where conversations with Mountain Lake, a Pueblo elder, deepened his reflections on the differences between Western and non-Western consciousness and the universality of religious symbolism.

Image source: Taos Pueblo

Expedition to East Africa

1925 - 1926

Jung traveled to East Africa, including Kenya and Uganda, where he studied the psychology of indigenous peoples firsthand. These journeys reinforced his belief in universal archetypal structures underlying human symbolism across cultures.

Collaboration with Wolfgang Pauli on synchronicity

1932 - 1958

Jung maintained a decades-long intellectual friendship with Nobel laureate physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who analyzed his own dreams with Jung. Their correspondence explored parallels between quantum physics and depth psychology, culminating in joint explorations of the psychophysical problem.

Image source: Wolfgang Pauli

Collaboration with Wolfgang Pauli on synchronicity

Jung becomes president of the General Medical Society for Psychotherapy

1933 - 1939

Jung assumed the presidency of the Germany-based International General Medical Society for Psychotherapy during the Nazi era. His role remains controversial, as critics have debated whether his actions accommodated the Nazi regime or protected Jewish members of the society.

Eranos lectures begin

1935

Jung became a central figure at the annual Eranos meetings at Ascona, Switzerland, an interdisciplinary conference where scholars explored mythology, religion, and symbolism. His Eranos talks, often illustrated by mandalas and alchemical imagery, shaped generations of scholars in depth psychology and religious studies.

Image source: Eranos Foundation

Terry Lectures at Yale University

1937

Jung delivered the prestigious Terry Lectures at Yale on 'Psychology and Religion,' arguing that the psyche has an inherently religious function and that neglecting this dimension leads to neurosis. The lectures were published as 'Psychology and Religion.'

Image source: Psychology of religion

Major Publications

Publication of 'Psychology of the Unconscious'

1912

In 'Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido' ('Symbols of Transformation'), Jung departed from Freud's sexual theory of libido, reinterpreting it as generalized psychic energy. This work precipitated the decisive break between Jung and Freud.

Jung introduced concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes

1917

In essays written during and after his period of inner turmoil, notably 'On the Psychology of the Unconscious,' Jung articulated his concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes, universal patterns shared by all humanity that manifest in myths, dreams, and symbols across cultures.

Image source: Collective unconscious

Jung introduced concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes

Introduction of psychological types theory

1921

In 'Psychological Types,' Jung introduced his influential typology of introversion and extraversion along with the functions of thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. This work laid the foundation for later personality assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Image source: Psychological Types

Publication of 'Modern Man in Search of a Soul'

1933

This collection of essays presented Jung's views on the spiritual crisis of modern life, dream analysis, and the relationship between psychology and religion, making his ideas accessible to a broad general audience and establishing his reputation beyond specialist circles.

Image source: Modern Man in Search of a Soul

Publication of 'Modern Man in Search of a Soul'

Publication of 'Aion' and synchronicity essay

1951 - 1952

Jung published 'Aion,' a study of the archetype of the self and the symbol of the fish in Christianity, followed by his monograph on synchronicity with physicist Wolfgang Pauli, proposing that meaningful coincidences reflect an acausal ordering principle connecting psyche and matter.

Publication of 'Answer to Job'

1952

In 'Answer to Job,' Jung offered a provocative psychological analysis of the Book of Job, arguing that the biblical God image undergoes a transformation requiring incarnation in man. The book scandalized theologians but is considered among his most daring works.

Image source: Answer to Job

Publication of 'Mysterium Coniunctionis'

1955

Jung's final major work examined alchemical symbolism as a projection of individuation processes, completing his three-decade investigation of alchemy as a key to the psychology of the unconscious and the union of conscious and unconscious elements of the psyche.

Image source: The Collected Works of C. G. Jung

Later Life and Legacy

Death of Emma Jung

Nov 27, 1955

Emma Jung died after a long illness. Her death profoundly affected Carl Jung, who had relied on her steadfast partnership throughout his career. She had made significant contributions to analytical psychology herself, including her study of the Holy Grail myth.

Complete Works of C.G. Jung compilation

1957 - 1983

Begun under Jung's supervision and completed after his death, the twenty-volume Collected Works edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, and Gerhard Adler systematized his writings and made analytical psychology accessible to scholars worldwide, becoming the standard reference edition of his oeuvre.

Death of Carl Jung

Jun 6, 1961

Carl Jung died at his home in Küsnacht on Lake Zürich at the age of 85. He left behind a vast body of work encompassing analytical psychology, the theory of archetypes and the collective unconscious, psychological types, and profound contributions to the study of religion, mythology, and alchemy.

Publication of 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections'

1962

Aniela Jaffé compiled Jung's autobiographical recollections, dictated near the end of his life, into 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.' The book offered an intimate account of his inner life, childhood experiences, encounters with Freud, and confrontation with the unconscious, becoming his most widely read work.

Image source: Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Enduring legacy in popular culture and personality testing

1962 - 2021

Jung's typology inspired the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and numerous other instruments, while his ideas about archetypes, the shadow, introversion, and the collective unconscious permeated literature, film, and popular psychology, ensuring his lasting influence far beyond academic circles.

Image source: Myers–Briggs Type Indicator

Posthumous publication of the Red Book

2009

Nearly fifty years after Jung's death, his illuminated manuscript known as the Red Book (Liber Novus) was finally published in a facsimile edition. The lavishly illustrated record of his self-exploration revealed the visionary origins of his mature psychology and caused a major scholarly reassessment of his work.

Key Facts

Carl Jung was born on July 26, 1875, in Kesswil, Switzerland, and died on June 6, 1961, in Küsnacht.
He founded analytical psychology after splitting from Sigmund Freud around 1913 due to disagreements over the nature of the unconscious and libido.
Jung introduced the concepts of introversion and extraversion, which became foundational to modern personality psychology.
He proposed the theory of the collective unconscious, a shared reservoir of memories and symbols expressed through archetypes such as the Shadow, Anima, Animus, and the Self.
His major works include 'Psychological Types' (1921), 'Modern Man in Search of a Soul' (1933), and the posthumously published 'Man and His Symbols' (1964) and 'The Red Book.'

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