Freud Museum

April 6, 2009 at 7:25 pm | Posted in General, London, Out and About, Tourism, Travel, UK, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: Freud, Freud Museum, London, museum, review, Travel, UK

The Freud Museum is a house and Freud lived there. That’s about it, except this was the last year of his life when he fled Austria after German occupation. Intervention by the USA and Britain helped the family and importantly Freud’s collection to be shipped to his new home in London.

The museum focuses predominantly on the Freud family home life and some of the factors influencing Sigmund – such as a wanderlust that was translated into a collection of artifacts from around the world.

One room is dedicated to a looped series of videos not only talking about the flight from Austria but also rare home movies of the family narrated by Anna Freud. Sigmund’s daughter and a noted psychoanalyst in her own right.  A nearby room was Anna’s and covers her passions and career.

On the ground floor is Sigmund Freud’s study – including the famous couch – it’s wonderfully decorated in that same sense of an organised clutter, with a myriad of pieces – notably Egyptian statues and other knick knacks everywhere.

On the whole it’s reasonably interesting but not so interesting. Most people with only a cursory knowledge of Freud can easily skip this museum. The museum also seems lacking in information for the uninitiated on why Freud and his theories are important. If it were free or only a few pounds I might change my opinion but for £5 you need to be an aficionado. For an extra charge you can also get an audio guide.

The closest tube is Finchley Road and it is reasonably sign posted.