Freud Museum facts for kids
The Freud Museum, as seen from the garden
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| Established | 28 July 1986 |
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| Location | Maresfield Gardens London, NW3 United Kingdom |
| Public transit access |  Hampstead Finchley Road & Frognal Finchley Road |
The Freud Museum in London is a special museum. It's all about Sigmund Freud, a very famous thinker. The museum is in the house where he lived with his family.
In 1938, Freud and his family had to leave Austria. They moved to London to escape the Nazis. They lived in this house at 20 Maresfield Gardens.
Freud passed away a year later. But his daughter, Anna Freud, continued to live there. She was a pioneer in helping children. Anna lived in the house until 1982. It was her wish that the house become a museum. The museum opened to the public in July 1986.
Freud kept working in London. He finished his book Moses and Monotheism here. He also continued to see patients in this home. The most famous item in the museum is his couch. It came from his old home in Vienna. Patients would lie on it and say whatever came to their mind. This was called the free association technique.
There are two other Freud Museums. One is in Vienna, Austria. The other is in Příbor, in the Czech Republic. That's where Sigmund Freud was born.
Contents
Exploring the Museum's Location
The museum is at 20 Maresfield Gardens. This area is in Hampstead, a suburb of London.
The ground floor has Freud's study and library. You can also see the hall and dining room. The museum shop is on this floor too.
Upstairs, on the first floor, there's a video room. You can also see Anna Freud's room. There's a special room for temporary exhibitions. These shows feature modern art or displays about Freud. Some art shows use several rooms in the museum. Other parts of the house, like the kitchen, are now offices.
The Museum Building
The house was built in 1920. It has a style called British Queen Anne Revival. A small sun room was added to the back. This was done by Ernst Ludwig Freud, Sigmund Freud's son.
Sigmund Freud was over eighty when he moved in. He died the next year. But his youngest daughter, Anna Freud, lived there for many years. She was famous for her work helping children.
The house has a lovely garden. It looks much like it did when Freud lived there.
What You Can See: The Collection
The Freud family brought all their furniture to London. You can see old chests, tables, and cupboards. There's also a collection of painted furniture from Austria.
The museum also has Freud's collection of old items. These are from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Orient. He also had a large personal library.
The most famous item is Freud's psychoanalytic couch. A patient gave it to him in 1890. This couch was carefully restored in 2013.
Anna Freud kept her father's study and library just as he left them. The bookshelf has books by his favorite writers. These include Goethe and Shakespeare. Freud believed that writers and thinkers understood the mind. He felt his work, psychoanalysis, helped explain these ideas.
The library also has many pictures. They are hung just as Freud arranged them. You can see 'Oedipus and the Riddle of the Sphinx'. There's also 'The Lesson of Dr Charcot'. Plus, there are photos of his wife, Martha Freud, and other important people.
The museum also has a portrait of Freud. It was painted by the famous artist Salvador Dalí.
The museum also helps with research and education. They hold talks, meetings, and school visits. The museum is part of the London Museums of Health & Medicine.
See also
In Spanish: Casa Museo Freud (Londres) para niños
- Sigmund Freud Museum (Vienna)
- A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière, 1887 painting by André Brouillet
