SPK is a somewhat obscure "pro-illness" group founded by Dr. Wolfgang Huber at Heidelberg University in 1968. The group members were mental patients, and were considered by media to be a leftist / Marxist group. The group forwarded the view that the "capitalist performance of the Federal Republic was sick within itself and was thus producing mentally sick people which could only be changed by violent revolution." They organized into the working circles listed above.

In 1970, Dr. Huber and 120 patients were kicked out of the clinics they were using. The patients revolted, occupied offices, went on a hunger strike, etc. until they are provided with a few rooms. The patients revolted again, demanding blank prescriptions pads, and released a communique the same year supporting the SDS. The university lost patience with the situation and kicked Dr. Huber out, and tried several times to evict SPK. The patients released a communique titled "Suicide equals murder / starvation equals murder" after one patient committed suicide. Dr. Huber and some patients were arrested in 1971, prompting the group to release another communique titled "Turn Illness into a Weapon". The group's workshops included crime, guerilla activities and sex magic. Interaction between SPK and Baader-Meinhof group was widely suspected. SPK denied any connection. The patients demanded 500 weapons and raised hell in other ways before dissolving in 1971 and reappering under the name InformationsZentrum Rote VolksUniversität (Information Center of the People's Red University) ..IZRU Dr. Huber and several patients were in prison for the next few years.

There were numerous leftist terrorist groups active in West Germany at the time, but SKP was unique because of their mental therapy angle. Two of the best known were the Red Army Faction (RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhoff Gang and the anarchist "Movement June 2", which took its name from the date in 1967 when a student named Bennoi Ohnesorg, was killed in anti-Shah riots in West Berlin. A famous RAF saying is, "Society is corrupt; it must be destroyed; that which comes later will be better."

SPK members carried out their best known action under another name. On April 27, 1975, six people who called themselves the "Holger Meins Commando" seized the West German embassy in Stockholm. Four of the six people, Friederike Krobbe, Karl Dellwo, Lutz Taufer, Sigfried Hausner and Ulrich Wessel, were originally SPK members. By this time they were affiliated with the RAF, which is widely credited with this action. After entering the building, the six took twelve hostages: Ambassador Dietrich Stocker, several senior diplomats including military attaché Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Baron von Mirbach, embassy officials, secretaries and messengers. The "Holger Mains Commando" sent their demands to the Bonn government - within 6 hours, 26 prisoners including Esslin, Baader and Meinhoff were to be released, given $20,000 and be waiting safely in a plane at Frankfurt airport.

As these demands were considered, Swedish police inside the lower part of the embassy were fired on and warned by telephone to quit within fifteen minutes or Von Mirbach would be executed. When police refused to leave the embassy, the West German military attaché was marched to the window, shot several times, and thrown off a balcony on the third floor. He died shortly afterwards in the hospital. Then, minutes before the deadline expired, The Swedish Minster of Justice informed the terrorists that the Bonn government had rejected all demands. He then offered the gang safe conduct out of Sweden if they freed the remaining hostages unharmed. The economic attaché was shot and three secretaries released with a final ultimatum. Before this could be met, the explosives which Hausner had rigged up exploded, setting off live ammunition, scaring Wessel into dropping a grenade and blowing himself up. The explosives blew up the top floor of the embassy. The badly burned body of Heinz Hillegaart, the West German economic attaché, was found later in the wreckage. Hausner was injured in the explosion, and died in the hospital. The four surviving members of the "Holger Meins Commando" were deported to West Germany, tried, and found guilty.

In September of 1977, the RAF kidnapped top industrialist Dr. Hans-Martin Schleyer in Cologne, Italy. SPK member Fred Krobbe was involved. Five terrorists armed with sub-machine guns ambushed Schleyer's Mercedes as he was driven home from work, escorted by a second car carrying three armed bodyguards. The gunmen murdered all three bodyguards and Schleyer's chauffeur, then abducted the unharmed industrialist in a waiting van. They offered his life in exchange for the release of eleven imprisoned West German terrorists, payment of $43,000 each and safe transport to the country of their choice. A massive search was mounted for Schleyer. Five weeks later the kidnappers released a photograph of their drained, wretched captive, showing him holding a banner with the inscription "Commando Siegfried Hausner" and "Martyr Halimeh". Hausner was the SPK member who died in the hospital after the Stockholm embassy siege of 1975. "Halimeh" was the Arab name given to an unidentified German woman who was shot by Israeli troops when she tried to hijack a plane. They eventually killed Schleyer, and released a statement excerpted below:

Dr. Huber is still active. He was a few books in print. Notable titles are "SPK - Turn Illness into a Weapon" and "SPK Indeed - What the SPK Really Did and Said". Huber denies some things that this article and historical sources have stated. This excerpt, for example, includes his explanation that he was not fired from the university and conventional history is wrong about the working circles. His writing is hard to follow, and an interesting window into how his mind works. You are encouraged to read it and decide for yourself. Huber's official website for SPK is spkphf.de. He is a complex character who's activities cannot be fully summarized in this short article.

This webpage was first posted about 1997. At that time, there was little information about SPK available. I did not even know taht Dr. Huber was still alive and SPK was still active. It was a tad surprising when Dr. Huber sent outraged emails to Heathen World stating that the site was full of lies, demanding that the site be taken down, etc. Now that the Internet has expanded and more sources are available, I reviewed the subject and rewrote parts of this. The conclusions are still the same - there are just more details now.

An "industrial" band called SPK formed in Australia in 1978, alternately calling themselves "Socialists Patients Collective", "Surgical Penis Klinik", "SepPuKu", "Meat Processing Sektion", etc. Some of the members had worked in mental hospitals, and were inspired by the original SPK mentioned above. They researched similarities between past and present "science" and "primitive" magical rites. Their music was originally harsh electronics with bits of conversations, and real machine sounds incorporated. The visuals at their live shows incorporated everything from shocking medical images to hardcore pornography. A 1981 audience in San Francisco was shocked when the band ate brains from a sheep's head on stage. SPK released a video using their "Leichenschrei" LP for music and images including very old movies, autopsy videos, medical experimentation on animals, etc. Over the years, their style of shocking imagery and tribal/assaultive electronics evolved into electronic dance music. SPK also released an amazing CD called "Zamia Lehmannia", which is influenced by Byzantine music. The group started out with five members, and members slowly left until one original remained with new collaborators.

SPK no longer functions as a band. Member Graeme Revell now makes movie soundtracks in Hollywood. He made the soundtrack for "Dead Calm", which included parts of the SPK cd "Zamia Lehmanni". He also hired "Brian Lustmord" for his company (not to be confused with the metal band Lustmord). Lustmord was another ground breaking industrial presence throughout the 80's. Graeme Revell and Lustmord's work is always interesting and is worth searching out.

According to some late night web surfing SPK is a quality control system for urine specimens. "SPK-01 describes a urine specimen kit. SPK-02 is the method of urine shipment to the lab. SPK-03 is the urine specimen temperature at time of collection expressed as Farenheit."

Soviet cosmonauts used a propulsion system called the SPK. The thing in the picture that looks like a backpack with arms is the SPK.

Another site informs that "SPK - THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE" is a group of "rabble-rousing, hard-drinking, non-traditional librarians who gather twice a year at American Library Association (ALA) conferences for a never-dull dinner."

"SPK Cyber gear" cock rings with spikes sell for $20. SPK is a "common file format for NAIF's S-kernal and ephemeris portion of the P-kernel.

"SPK KNYAZHEGUBSKY" is a Russian agricultural production complex in the Kandalakshsky district that specializes in chicken breeding and milk.

"ALEXANDER SPK" is a "Server Protection Kit" for LAN networks, and (ofcourse)... SPK is a "Lagrange polynomial coefficient that contains the location of a planetary body or satellite. This object is used internal to the spk genus and is not directly used by a user."

This webpage was first posted in the late 1990's. There were no other sites on the web that compprehensively covered this subject at the time. There is now a fine section on Vogania.com that covers much of this material, and has some interesting additions, including an open letter from Jean-Paul Sartre to the original SPK circa 1972. Wikipedia has interesting articles on these subjects. Dr. Huber's current SPK website is worth a visit. It is in several languages and is a bit baffling to navigate around in, but has a wealth of historic material and a and a bunch of crazy "intellect on a rampage" articles.