Freud Museum

Sigmund Freud's family home in Hampstead has been turned into a fascinating museum which features the psychoanalytic couch on which
Freud's patients would recline while being treated by him. Just
one of the many original objects on display in the Freud Museum, this comfortable couch covered in chenille cushions, atop an exotic, richly coloured Iranian rug forms the centrepiece of the museum which celebrates the life and work of Sigmund Freud and his daughter, Anna. 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 2,000 Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Oriental antiquities fills 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.