It was a rainy Sunday afternoon when me and a friend decided to visit the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna. We were expecting a lot, because we were told that a lot of original furnishing is exhibited there and as the museum is located directly in the former apartment and office of Sigmund Freud. We were a bit disappointed.
(c) www.freud-museum.at
The museum opened in 1971 and is located in Berggasse 19, where Freud lived and worked from 1891 to 1938. Then he and his family had to flee to England, as the Nazis were already ruling Austria and Germany and Freud was jewish. Then his younger daughter, Anna, helped furnish the museum with original pieces, a selection of Freud’s collection of antiques and with some of his first and signed copies of his work. There’s also some private film material showing the family during the 1930ies.
(c) www.freud-museum.at
As the whole museum is located in an apartment, it’s natural that there are waiting times if too many people want to visit the museum at once. We liked the original pieces and the parts of the permanent exhibition, but it’s all in all a very small museum and we didn’t even spend an hour in there. You still learn a lot about Freud’s life and work, but I personally got the impression that the whole museum isn’t questioning Freud or the psychoanalysis he founded. It’s a bit superficial, I even felt like the museum was a more or less random collection of items – and with an admission fee of 10 Euros per adult a bit expensive. I’d only recommend it for real Freud-fans.
More information:
Freud Museum Vienna
Berggasse 19
1090 Vienna
www.freud-museum.at
Admission Fee: 10 Euros per adult, free admission with the Vienna Pass
Open: Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.
