SIGMUND FREUD MUSEUM

19 Berggasse is one of Vienna's most famous addresses! Renovated in 2019, the Sigmund Freud Museum's new museum spaces provide a lively account of the life, work, family and times of the father of psychoanalysis. You'll discover the cradle of psychoanalysis, and even in augmented reality (the original is in London), the famous couch where Freud's patients used to lie.

For 47 years, until 1938, Sigmund Freud lived with his family, conducted his research and practiced his profession in this classic Viennese Hochgründerzeit building. It was within these walls that he honed his theories and wrote the pioneering works of psychoanalysis, including The Interpretation of Dreams. It was here, in the waiting room of his practice, that Freud gathered members of the pioneering Wednesday Psychological Society. His house at 19 Berggasse remains a major part of his legacy and an important place of pilgrimage for students and followers of the psychoanalytic discipline. However, it's worth remembering that Freud didn't end his life there. Following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Freud, who was known to be Jewish, fled in June 1938 and spent the last year of his life in London, where, knowing he had cancer, he ended his life at the age of 83.

The museum has been modernized and doubled in size. Following the renovation of the museum, all the rooms in the house are now accessible and showcased. The new entrance hall now houses the ticket office, the museum store and a café. On the mezzanine floor is Freud's first study, now home to the museum's contemporary art collection. The mezzanine leads to the private apartments on the left, and to the study on the right. To respect protocol, you must ring the bell before entering the study... The main floor houses an impressive and extremely rich library dedicated to psychoanalysis, with 40,000 works and the Sigmund Freud archive. The second, renovated stairwell tells the story of the building, erected in 1880. The apartments were requisitioned by the Nazis and used as collective housing for Jews awaiting deportation. In all, 79 people lived here while awaiting deportation.

For a more in-depth look at the subject, the Sigmund Freud Tour Vienn (www.sigmundfreudtourvienna.com) offers a fascinating 20-stop guided tour of Vienna in the footsteps of Freud.