Vienna, September 11th, 1891. Dear friend, could not notify you sooner because I
myself did not know. Now I can tell you
that on September 15th I am expecting
you impatiently and joyously
in Vienna, Berggasse 19. Most cordially
your Dr. Freud.
The neurologist Sigmund Freud writes
these words to his colleague Wilhelm
Fliess shortly after moving into Berggasse.
The Freuds live here in Vienna's ninth
district for almost half a century:
Sigmund, Martha, six children and
sister-in-law Minna. Professor Freud works
here in his practice writing around
20,000 letters to such famous figures as
Thomas Mann, André Breton and
Albert Einstein. Freud'ss office at Berggasse
19 becomes a symbol of the
move into the modern age. Enquiries
arrive from all over the world, everyone
wants to be treated by Freud in person.
With his new methods -talking therapy and
free association -
Freud sets out to probe the human
unconscious thus establishing a new
science that will forever change the way
people see themselves.
Freud's writings become milestones of
modern cultural and social theory. The
father of psychoanalysis is an advocate
of open-minded life together in society.
Unbiased, he considers people's strengths
and weaknesses. The terms id, ego and
super-ego are still used today to
explain the structure of our personality.
The unconscious is the locus of
repressed emotions and wishes, it is
expressed in dreams and parapraxis such
as the Freudian slip. Sigmund Freud
leaves Vienna in 1938: together with his
closest family he flees the terror of
nationalsocialism. All of the family's furnishings are
packed up and transported into exile in
London. All that remains is empty,
deserted rooms. Today, Berggasse 19
is home to a museum attracting more than
100,000 visitors a year - this
historical location is devoted to the
study of Freud's life, work, and the
history of his influence to this day. The
aim now is to preserve this unique
cultural heritage and to equip and convert
the Sigmund Freud Museum in keeping with
international museum standards and to
take it into the future. For this we need
your support:
help us by becoming part of the project
Sigmund Freud museum 2020!
 
