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Fin-de-siècle
in Vienna must have been an extraordinary time: Not only did
a unique art movement (‘Jugendstil’, art noveau)
evolve, but also a revolutionary field of science. It
was in Vienna, that Sigmund Freud developed his ideas on id,
ego and super-ego. The impact was tremendous. Freud’s
theories and writings made him the best known psychiatrist
of all times and laid the foundation for a highly influential
field of studies: psycho-analysis.
Sigmund Freud was born in Moravia. At the age of 5 years his
family moved to Vienna. Freud was an excellent student and
always ahead of his class. Therefore, he had no problem to
enrol to medical school. He got involved with psychology,when
he got to know Professor Ernst Brücke under who's direction
he started doing research. At those times it was hard to get
accepted to neurological training facilities, however, Brücke
helped Freud to get a grant to study in Paris and Nancy.
After Sigmund Freud returned to Vienna,
he set up a practice in neuropsychiatry. He started to work
in psychological fields concerning the conscious mind and
earned recognition with his revolutionary theories of the
id, the ego and the superego and his work with psychoanalysis.
In 1938, after Austria was affiliated by Nazi Germany, Sigmund
Freud, being a famous Jewish scientist had no choice, but
to immigrate to the United Kingdom. He stayed there until
he died of cancer in 1939.
Freud's work was revolutionary
at his times and especially adopted in the United States,
where they are still basis to most modern psychological treatments.
Nowadays, his theories are somewhat challenged as being too
focused on sexual processes. His importance as the father
of psychoanalysis can't be denied. Furthermore, his publications
on hysteria, the working of jokes, Oedipus complex or the
interpretation of dreams are written in elegant and precise
German, they are a good read!
Visit the Sigmund Freud
Museum in Vienna!
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