Freud Museum: Cave of Memories

At the Freud Museum in Vienna at Bergasse 19, once considered a middle class neighbourhood on a sloping street, what is missing is the famous couch- the original analytic couch- where patients would recline while the inventor of Psychoanalysis would listen to them sitting in a green tub chair. One would have to travel to London to catch a glimpse of that famous couch though. Freud, being a Jewish, fled Austria for England in 1938 as the Second World War was about to break and he had taken along the couch as well. However, a wooden truck in which Freud had taken all his belongings to London is in display.

But at Bergasse 19, the remaining furniture, collection of  antiquities from across the world, manuscripts, notebooks, nuggets of information and rare photographs tell the story of a man who is considered the founding father of psychoanalysis, a set of psychological and psychotherapeutic theories and  techniques. He proclaimed that a person's mental development is determined by events in early childhood and humans are driven largely by irrational drives.

It was Freud who launched the interpretation of dreams. "The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind," he held.

A visit to the magnificent city that is Vienna perhaps would be incomplete without a short visit to the Sigmund Freud Museum, the five-storied mock-Baroque style house where Freud lived and where the concept of psychoanalysis was born. His exit from Austria was preceded by a raid by Germans (SA or Storm Troopers) in his apartment on March 15, 1938. A swastika was also draped on the house in Nazi style when a rap on the door was a terrifying experience for the Jews.

In the former living quarters and office of Sigmund Freud in Vienna's ninth district, the museum now also presents an (ongoing) exhibition documenting the life and work of the man who lived and worked in this house from 1891 until 1938. On 4 June that year he was forced to flee with his family into exile in England.

The interior decoration of the museum was carried out in 1971 with the help of Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud's youngest daughter who had carried forward to great extent the legacy of her father.

Original furnishings, including the waiting room, a selection from Freud’s collection of antiquities, a microtome (for cutting thin sections for microscopy), and signed copies and first editions of his works provide a glimpse into Freud's biography, his cultural environment and the development of psychoanalysis. Unique film material showing the Freud family in the 1930’s, is shown in a video room with a commentary by Anna Freud.

According to Vienna Tourist Board, over the years the museum has been expanded in several phases. Initially limited to the few rooms of Freud's former practice, the facility underwent major expansion during the '80s and '90s. The addition to a new library, was added a museum shop, a book storage unit and a modern lecture and exhibition hall in the newly integrated private apartment of the Freud family. The various phases of remodeling were overseen by architect Wolfgang Tschapeller, whose additions maintain a clear distance from the historical structure.

In 2002, the museum gained a new "exterior surface" through the acquisition of the Berggasse 19 storefront in which Siegmund Kornmehl operated his kosher butcher shop until 1938. The installation series “A View from outside” and “A View from outside – continued” referred to the historic circumstances of the building and actual relations to psychoanalysis.

Today Berggasse 19 stands programmatically for the institutions and activities that deepen knowledge about psychoanalysis, its historical dimensions and its links to art.

Freud’s last journey, which saw him flee in June 1938, is a focus of the exhibition entitled Freud’s Travels. Cultural Experiences – Psychoanalytical Thinking.

In addition to family holidays in the Austrian Alps and Bavaria, Freud embarked upon numerous trips to ancient sites in Italy and Greece, and travelled to the east coast of America in 1909 for a series of lectures. His passionate travels also shaped his works while he is considered a modern, epicurean and contemporary tourist.

The exhibition in Freud’s private rooms  show an overview of the documents, souvenirs and photographs he collected during his travels for the first time. It also explores the importance of travel to Freud’s theoretical work.

As one walks up the staircase with black vine railings and is ushered into the rooms on the second floor, a world of a genius who redefined the way we see the human mind is unveiled. In the rooms are neatly placed original furnishings of the time when Freud lived there. It includes pieces from his waiting room and especially his collection of antiques. Various handwritten works and a number of first editions are in display.

Anna Freud had  played an important role in the establishing the museum in 1971. A blown up image of Anna and Freud offers a glimpse of the special relationship shared by the father and daughter. While Anna was very close to her father and was influenced by him, she was a well-known n theorist in her own right. There are istoric film clips prepared and narrated by Anna Freud showing excerpts from the great man’s private and family life.

This year photographs of Sigmund Freud and key words from his tomes are displayed on advertising columns and city lights throughout Vienna. The images are deliberately tantalising, with integrated QR codes leading to the digital Hidden Freud exhibition.
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While Sigmund Freud had emphasised on tracing psychological problems to sexual issues, his theories are now partly accepted by mainstream psychologists.

“The behavior of a human being in sexual matters is often a prototype for the whole of his other modes of reaction in life," said Freud.

However, his theory of the Oedipal Complex is of immense value still and he would always be known as a pioneer for the Freudian innovations like the therapy couch, which is the use of talk therapy to resolve psychological problems.

Freud’s chief collaborators were Austrian Alfred Adler (1870-1937) and the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1885-1961). But they had split and came up with their own psychological theories and practices.

While even in his lifetime his works were challenged and debated, there is no gainsaying of the imprint he left as the world still love to refer to issues as “Freudian”.

Interestingly, Freud had analysed humans as somewhat incorrigible species who oozes out betrayal at every pore.

"He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore," said Freud.

And in these times of no-holds-barred technological advancement, mobile cameras, Internet and social media explosion, despite all the challenges to his works, Freudian slips have found a new meaning in our social life.