The following material comes from the brief life written by John A. Sanford with the assistance of Kunkel's two sons. Kunkel was born the seventh of eight siblings, on a wealthy estate in Brandenburg, on September 6, 1889. His early life was characterized as carefree, imaginative, active and social. While pursuing a variety of interests, he did manage to study medicine, receiving his medical degree “a few days after the beginning of the First World War”. At the Battle of Verdun, working as a battalion surgeon, he received a shrapnel wound that led to the loss of his left arm. Around 1919-1920, Kunkel moved to Vienna, where he became associated with Alfred Adler. In 1924, he began to practice Adlerian psychotherapy in Berlin. Over the next 10 to 15 years he built on his Adlerian foundations, publishing a dozen books and founding his unique school of "We-Psychology". In 1920 he married Ruth Löwengard, who became his colleague and co-founder of the Adler Institute in Berlin. They had three children. After the death of Ruth in January 1932, he married Elizabeth Jensen, and they had two more children. When Hitler came to power, Kunkel became increasingly disturbed by the restrictions being placed on psychotherapy, and he planned to immigrate to the USA with his family. He accepted an invitation by the Quakers to give a lecture tour in the United States in 1936, and again in 1939. When the war broke out in September 1939, he could not come back to Germany to pick up his family. The oldest son came to the States in 1938, after having attended the Quaker school in Eerde, the Netherlands, and his two siblings, also Eerde students, followed after the war. Elizabeth and her two boys joined her husband in December 1947. Kunkel continued to develop the We-Psychology and his religious psychology, while leading an active life of writing, lecturing, and psychotherapy, until his death on Easter Sunday 1956.
Literary works
unknown year: Psychologie van het ongeloof
1927 Die Grundbegriffe der Individualpsychologie . Opvoeding tot persoonlijkheid
1928 Die Arbeit am Character. God helps those. Karaktervorming door zelfopvoeding
1929 Arbeit am Charakter
1929-1935 Angewandte Charakterkunde, 6 vols.
1929 Part 1 from Angewandte CharakterkundeEinführung in die Characterkunde. Introduction a la characterologia. Inleiding tot de dialectische karakterkunde. Let's be normal.
1929 Der kritische Punkt in der Charakterkunde.
1929 Das Dumme Kind. Het domme kind
1929 Vitale Dialektik. Levend denken
1930 Jugendcharakterkunde. What It Means To Grow Up. Karakterkunde van de jeugd
1931 Grundzüge der Politischen Charakterkunde. Individu en gemeenschap
1931 Eine Angstneurose und Ihre Behandlung. Genezing van angst
1931 Part 2 Charakter, Wachstum und Erziehung. Karakter, groei en opvoeding. Character, Growth, and Education.
1932 Krisenbriefe. Crisisbrieven
1932 Part 3 Charakter, Liebe und Ehe. Karakter, liefde en huwelijk
1933 Part 4 Charakter, Einzelmensch und Gruppe. Groepskarakterkunde
1934 Part 5 Charakter, Leiden und Heilung. Karakter, ziekte en genezing
1935 Part 6 Charakter, Krisis und Weltanschauung, 2e bearbeitung von Vitale Dialektiek.
1935 Grundzüge der praktischen Seelenheilkunde. Conquer Yourself.
1936 Die Erziehung Deiner Kinder.
1939 Das Wir.
1940 How Character Develops.
1943 Ringen um Reife. In Search of Maturity.
1946 What Do You Advise?.
1947 Creation Continues. Die Schöpfung geht weiter. De Schepping voltrekt zich
