Sigmund Freud is pure psychoanalysis. After my psychology studies in Salzburg this was written indelibly in my brain twists. It took many years before I got back in contact while reading Der Trafikant by Robert Seethaler, a great book that Freud connects to the Attersee in a charming way.
During my research for the new Bad Ischl city guide, which will be published in April, I got to know Freud from a human side. I researched well-known personalities who were regularly guests in Ischl. Freud was on my list. I quickly went from the hundreds to the thousands. From hysteria to mushroom picking.
Freud was an enthusiastic mushroom seeker and his ties to Altaussee are well known. However, his summer fixed point was in Bad Ischl, numerous entries in the curlists for Kaiser’s birthday testify to this. That made me curious: time to study Freud’s correspondence. I found a lot of references to August 18 and the obligatory birthday party in Ischl.
Then I read that he enjoyed walking with Josef Breuer, the well-known Viennese internist. He consulted him in the case of women’s rights activist Bertha Pappenheimer. Breuer was her father’s family doctor. She suffered her first anxiety and hysteria during the Ischler summer break when the two were present. In Freud’s legendary treatise on hysteria, she is called „Anna O.“ and part of history.
Next, thanks to google, the 457-page Freud Diarium fell into my hands. Fascinating! On August 15, 1894, he reported a 4-hour night hike from Weißenbach to Bad Ischl. In terms of duration, it must have been Weißenbach am Attersee. Since the Attersee travel guide, I know that his publisher Samuel Fischer has spent many summers at the Berghof in Unterach. Freud definitely came from a publishing meeting!
In August 1915, Freud wrote to his daughter Anna from Marienbad: „We are now thinking of extending our stay here to the fifteenth, then coming to the hotel in Ischl to attend the birthday and spending the rest of the summer either in Ischl or in Aussee … „. 1915, strange. The emperor had long since signed the unfortunate manifesto to his people and had never returned to Ischl.
But Freud’s mother Amalia was there, like countless summers of her life. Most of the time she lived privately and celebrated her birthday on August 18 with the family. Since already adjusted for the emperor, the mayor and brass band always came over to congratulate the mother of the „famous professor“ on a jump.
By the way, there were photos in his house in London showing Freud in the Salzkammergut. The funeral speech was given by Stefan Zweig, also an Ischl expert.
