Welcome to the page of Annette Fricke, let me introduce You to a trip to Pribor (Czech Republic), the place, where Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, was born and spent some years of his early childhood.
 

 

Approaching Pribor in eastern Mohravia by car, you find a typical Czech small-town.
The town now has a home page: http://www.pribor.cz/
 

Before you reach the marketplace, with it's barock arcades, there is a modern monument, in memory of the famous son of the city. It consists of three stones, one carrying a sculpture of the head of the elder Freud.

Pribor (Czech Republic) - the Birthplace of Sigmund Freud Marketplace and Freud Monument

There is an inscription on the stone: "Sigmund Freud 1856 - 1939"

Here You can see the sculpture and the stone with the inscription. The next picture gives an impression of the whole ensemble. Leaving the monument left behind, you enter the marketplace.

I did so, asking in a shop for the Zamecnicka Ulice 117, the address of the child Sigmund Freud. The friendly lady there described the way. You have to keep right from the monument and marketplace, the house is just a few streets further. Or You cross the square, pay a visit to the barock church, turning in an ellipse, with the marketplace on the right.

Finally You stand in front of the house in the Zamecnicka Ulice 117. I'd like to remark, that number 117 does not mark the number of the house in the street, but in the town. While Freud lived here, the name of the street was Schlossergasse, the meaning is similar (at that time - 1856 - Pribor / Freiberg was part of the Austrian "Habsburger Monarchie", with Czech language, though the official language was German). Zamecnicka Ulice means "Locksmith Lane".

The Birth House of Sigmund Freud Zamecnicka Ulice 117, Pribor, Czech Republic (1995)

 
Let me steer Your attention on some details:

Above You see the door of the house. There was written, that the house contains physiotherapeutic massage institute. On the corner left above the door You can read the name of the institute: Fa. Freud (firm Freud).

In the left lower corner of the right lower window (right picture) you see a sign with the address. On the far right side there is a plaque with the inscription: "V TOMTO DOME SE NARODIL 6. KVETNA 1856 SIGMUND FREUD" ("In this house Sigmund Freud was born on 6th of May 1856" - also read about it below).

Over the door, between the two higher windows you can see the house sign of the building (detail), that was the home for the very young Sigmund Freud. It shows a key, hanging on a decorative element. Remember the name of the street, Zamecnicka Ulice, the Locksmith Lane. A locksmith is a person, who makes locks, to which belongs a key. Now you know, where the key is! In my understanding the house sign key symbolizes and is one of the sources of one of the most popular metaphors of psychoanalysis.

 

Outlook on the Iconography of the House in the Literature and the Web

 
This is the best know picture of Freud's birth house. The name "Zajic" written on the house is the name of the family Freuds rented the house from. Sigmund's nurse "Nannie" was probably Monika Zajic, a relative of Mr. J. Zajic, the locksmith, who owned the house and had a workshop there. For further details, please read the book: Didier Anzieu: "L'auto-analyse de Freud et la decouverte de la psychoanalyse" ("The Self Analysis of Freud and the Discovery of Psychoanalysis"), troisieme edition, Paris, 1988.
 

This two photos are from the home page of the Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna (http://freud.t0.or.at/freud/), which I only can recommend You! The museum is located at Dr. Freud's Office, Vienna IX, Berggasse 19.

 

The following picture shows a part of the Psychoanalytical Society of Vienna (1931). The speaker is Ernst Federn, who reads the laudatio on Freud.
At this event, the first plaque (see above and below) was presented.
The building is in a renovated state. You can still read the name "J. Zajic".

(Picture from: Barth, J. A.: Sigmund Freud. Hirnforscher. Neurologe. Psychotherapeut. Leipzig, 1990)

The left plaque is now on the building. It is the replacement for the original one You can see below, which was displaced by the Nazi government during their occupation of the Czech Republik.  The inscription: "V TOMTO DOME SE NARODIL 6. KVETNA 1856 SIGMUND FREUD" "In this House was Born Sigmund Freud on 6th of May 1856"

After emigrating to London in 1938, Freud lived until his death in the house 20 Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead, London, Great Britain. This small image of his birth house decorated Freud's room in Maresfield Gardens. To see photos from Sigmund Freud's house in London, you may like to visit Daniel Hocking's Freudian Slips Eclectic Mental Health Site (http://www.fgi.net/~freud/sfmem.htm).

Hear Sigmund Freud say: "Im Alter von 82 Jahren verliess ich infolge der deutschen Invasion mein Heim in Wien..." ("At the age of 82 years I left my home in Vienna, because of the German Invasion..." on the home page of the Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna, under Media Library / Mediathek.
 

(Nearly) everything about Sigmund Freud You´ll find at Freudpage.com (http://www.freudpage.com).
 

Thanks for Your visit!