Freud Museum
For one year only, the last of his life, Sigmund Freud lived at 20 Maresfield Gardens in North London. He arrived in the UK with his family in 1938, refugees from Nazi persecution. Freud was 82, but he continued to work and see patients up to the point at which his inoperable (and incredibly painful) jaw cancer became terminal. His youngest child, Anna — herself a pioneer of child psychoanalysis — continued to live and practice in the house until her death in 1982. The house was opened as a museum four years later.
Today, the Freud Museum presents the house much as it would have been when Sigmund and Anna occupied it, except with WiFi and a gift shop. Through incredible effort, most of the family possessions were also safely extracted from Austria. Freud’s Vienna consulting room has been recreated almost exactly as his patients would have remembered it, and is how you’ll see it today, complete with ancient antiquities, a musty old smell, and yes, even the famous couch.
If Freud were alive he’d be a prime candidate for Celebrity Hoarders. You’ll have to take my word for it, because my photos fail to show just how overwhelming it all is. Everything has been meticulously catalogued and is searchable on the museum website, but Freud primarily used the artefacts for inspiration. Every object has a history, and uncovering their secrets is akin to Freud trying to uncover the secrets inside his patients’ minds. (Ancient artefacts… chased by Nazis… I wonder what Freud would have thought of Indiana Jones?)
Throughout the house you’ll also see Anna’s favourite furniture and personal effects, numerous pictures and portraits of Freud (including one by Salvador Dalí), and if you’ve got the time there’s a video room streaming some informative, and at times fascinating, videos about his life. The museum also runs contemporary art exhibits, which at the time of my visit included the works of his grandson: painter Lucien Freud.
It’s easy enough to read up on someone, but to truly get a sense of who they are you have to see the way they lived. The meticulous preservation and ongoing maintainence is both an inspiration and a learning tool for anyone interested in psychoanalysis. None of this would have been possible were it not for the countless people, some notable and many not, who went out of their way to ensure the safe transport of Freud, his family and their things to the UK. (It’s a story worth reading.)
If you’re lucky enough to see it on a sunny day, I encourage you to also sit and enjoy the back garden. Londoner’s especially will appreciate the momentary chance to pretend that they live in an oversized Hampstead home. With a gift shop.
Plan your visit:
The Freud Museum is a ten minute walk from Finchley Road Tube Station (Metropolitan and Jubilee lines).
Check the website at freud.org.uk to confirm opening days/times and to book your tickets in advance (recommended). £14 Adult / £9 child.
Additional updates are posted at @freudmuseum on Instagram.