Karen Horney was born in Hamburg, Germany to Captain and Mrs. Berndt
Wackels Danielson on September 16, 1885. Captain Danielson was a religious man with
an authoritarian parenting style, he was referred to as "the Bible thrower". Although her
father brought her gifts from around the world and let her accompany him on three sea
excursions, Karen felt that he favored her older brother Berndt. The lack of a connection
with her father made Karen become extremely close with her mother, Clotilde aka Sonni.
Clotilde was Captain Danielson's second wife, 19 years seperated the cosmopolitan wife
When Karen was nine she changed her approach to life and became more bold and
ambitious. At the same time, Karen's crush on her beloved teenage brother led him to
distance himself from her uncomfortable attentions. Berndt's rejection made Karen
depressed, the first of many bouts of depression throughout her life. In 1904 Clotilde
divorced Karen's father and left both Berndt and Karen in his care.
In 1906, Karen Horney decided to attend medical school against her parents
wishes. Contrary to societal norms, Horney attended the universities of Freiburg and
Berlin. While in school Karen met Oscar Horney, a law student, whom she married in
1909. The first of the couple's three daughters, Bridgette was born in 1910. The following
year Clotilde died and Karen entered psychoanalysis to help her cope with the dramatic
changes she had been through. In psychoanalysis Karen learned that Oscar was like her
dad, an authoritarian who was harsh with the children. Yet Karen considered his methods
acceptable and did not intervene, instead she believed that the atmosphere encouraged
Horney began to follow Freudian analysis with Karl Abraham in 1915. By 1919,
she was taking patients which led to a twelve year position at Berlin Psychoanalytic Clinic
and Institute. Later sh...