House of Dreams: A journey into Freud’s childhood in his hometown of Příbor
The father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud was born 170 years ago in Příbor, northern Moravia. The house where he was born is open to the public following an extensive reconstruction, and this year his hometown has prepared a special exhibition to mark the anniversary.
Called House of Dreams, the exhibition offers more than just a walk through the house where Freud was born. Like the man to whom it pays tribute, it delves into the mysteries of the human psyche, presenting a kaleidoscope of sounds and images evoking Freud’s childhood, family background and the relationships and environment that shaped him.
Visitors are given a set of keys and invited to unlock individual rooms, open cupboards and containers, each revealing a different aspect of the famous psychoanalyst’s early life.
As they walk through the house visitors can hear sounds that Freud would have heard as a child, including snatches of a folk song in the local Lašsko dialect and a Jewish prayer.
“What we hear is Shema Yisrael, one of the most important Jewish prayers, reflecting Freud’s Jewish heritage. We put together all the scraps of information we could find to recreate the feel of Sigmund Freud’s early childhood” says the exhibition’s curator Lenka Žlebčíková
One of the keys opens an old wardrobe. Through it visitors walk into a room draped in pink curtains - meant to symbolise the female womb. The installation recalls Freud’s close relationship with his mother, Amalia, who called him “mein goldener Sigi” – my golden Sigi.
“This is a lullaby sung in Yiddish, widely used by Central European Jews at the time. It is very likely that Freud’s mother knew Yiddish and sung this very lullaby to her son.” Lenka Žlebčíková says.
In another room, a huge table with a hole symbolizes Freud’s deeply complicated relationship with his father. Freud experienced his father both negatively—as an authoritative figure, competitor for his mother's affection, and source of early childhood jealousy and fear—and positively—as an idealized, "God-like" protector.
Climbing up to the attic, visitors can listen to a conversation between Freud and fellow psychologist Carl Jung as the two men debate and philosophize.
The house also has a library containing books about Freud and works he wrote himself. One of the most valuable exhibits is a book from the Freud family collection that he received as a school prize at the age of 12. It was donated by his great-grandson, Baron David Freud, and is the only object in the exhibition that Freud is known to have actually held in his hands.
Outside, visitors can see a copper replica of Freud’s famous psychoanalytic couch, explore the redesigned garden or listen to an authentic recording of the psychoanalyst’s voice on a poetry jukebox.
Příbor is immensely proud of its connection to the famous psychoanalyst. Yet Freud’s birthplace once came close to being demolished. It was the only building to survive the clearance of the town’s old quarter during the communist era, perhaps largely thanks to a commemorative plaque paying tribute to the father of psychoanalysis. Freud himself managed to thank the local people for preserving his birthplace during his lifetime.
The House of Dreams exhibition at Sigmund Freud’s birthplace is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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