Franz Nissl - Personal

Personal

Nissl was of small stature, with poor posture. He had a birthmark on his left face. He never married, and his life revolved entirely around his work.

One day, for a practical joke, Nissl (who was an active campaigner against human consumption of alcohol) placed a row of empty beer bottles outside his laboratory and made sure that Kraepelin heard that he could be found lying under his desk, dead drunk.

Nissl was a competent pianist. Hugo Spatz (1888–1969) told of his first meeting, when Spatz applied for a position in Nissl's laboratory. Nissl was busy that morning and asked the student to come to his home at twelve. When Spatz came to the house at noon, Nissl was not there, and the housekeeper finally opined that the Professor must have meant twelve midnight, so Spatz returned that night. Nissl was at home then, but Spatz had to wait in the anteroom for half an hour until Nissl had finished the piano sonata that he was playing. The conversation lasted until daybreak.