Freud Museum

The Freud Museum was the home of Sigmund Freud and his family when they escaped Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. It remained the family home until Anna Freud, the youngest daughter, died in 1982. The centrepiece of the museum is Freud's library and study, preserved just as it was during his lifetime. It contains Freud's remarkable collection of antiquities: Egyptian; Greek; Roman and Oriental. Almost two thousand items fill cabinets and are ranged on every surface. The walls are lined with shelves containing Freud's large library.

The house is also filled with memories of his daughter, Anna, who lived there for 44 years and continued to develop her pioneering psychoanalytic work, especially with children. The museum is now being developed as a cultural and research centre of outstanding value to the professional community.

The Freuds were fortunate to be able to bring all their furniture and household effects to London: there were splendid Biedermeier chests, tables and cupboards, and a fine collection of 18th and 19th-century Austrian painted country furniture. The most famous piece of furniture is Freud's psychoanalytic couch, on which all of Freud's patients reclined. The couch is remarkably comfortable and is covered with a richly coloured Iranian rug with chenille cushions piled on top.

The Freud Museum celebrates the life and work of Sigmund and Anna Freud and organises active programmes of research and publication. It has an education service which organises seminars, conferences and special visits to the museum. There is a shop well-stocked with books, photos, postcards and souvenirs on the life and work of Sigmund Freud and books on contemporary psychoanalysis. Postcards and souvenirs are also available. Parking: There is residents-only parking outside the Museum, but you will find "pay-and-display" parking nearby.

More Pictures