The study compares schizophrenic and affective psychoses with regard to basic symptoms. 30 patients in schizophrenic pre-, intra-, and postpsychotic basic stages and 30 patients in endogenous-depressive phases were examined according to the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms. The most important result is that certain cognitive basic symptoms and cenesthesias which are decisive for the development of florid productive-psychotic phenomena are found more frequently in the group of schizophrenias.