Freud Museum (London, United Kingdom)

Sigmund Freud's family home in Hampstead.

A comfortable couch covered in chenille cushions atop an exotic, richly coloured Iranian rug forms the centrepiece to this museum celebrating the life and work of Sigmund Freud and his daughter, Anna. The psychoanalytic couch is the very same piece of furniture on which Freud’s patients would recline while being “treated” by Freud and is just one of the many original objects on display in this fascinating museum. 20 Maresfield Gardens became home to Freud and his family when they arrived as refugees in England having escaped Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1938. The Hampstead house represents snapshots of Freud’s life both in England and in Austria. Freud - fortunate enough to bring most of his family belongings with him to England – made a note of the exact position of the effects in his study in Vienna and recreated this at his home in London. While a huge collection of over 2000 Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Oriental antiquities fill the rooms, the building feels less like a museum and more a home waiting for its owners to return. Papers, books and notes, photos and home movies combine to create a sensitive and wholly personal exhibition.

Best for:
Freud family memorabilia, papers, books, couches and antiquities.

Did you know?
Freud is buried at London's Golders Green crematorium cemetery located on Hoop Lane.