Freud: The Dream Interpreter of the Scientific Era

Author: Sigmund Freud (French) translated by Huang Fadian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-07-01
Features: From a Jewish background in Central Europe, deeply impressed and attracted by the neurologist Charcot, Freud, this "embryologist of the mind," relentlessly pursued the dark corners of human thought. Through psychoanalysis, Freud opened up a new world for humanity in the 20th century. On May 6, 1856, Sigmund Freud was born at No. 117, locksmith street, Freiburg. When his parents moved from No. 417 to No. 117, this has never been settled. In fact, the two houses were only a few steps apart. In my opinion, Jakob Freud's move into the new home on locksmith street should have been around the time he married Amalia. Amalia Nathanson was the daughter of a business broker in Vienna. On July 29, 1855, at the Vienna Jewish Church, she married the widower Jakob Freud, who was in his forties, at the age of 19. […] The newlyweds settled in Freiburg, living at No. 117, locksmith street, where their eldest son, Sigmund, was born. At that time, the house was quite secluded and only two stories high, not three. […] The house was a four-generation inheritance of the Chajik family. […] All descendants of the Chajik family were locksmiths, and the ground floor was their workshop. The Freud family lived in a room on the second floor, while the landlord's family occupied the other room. Incidentally, in that era, it was not unusual for an entire family to live in the same room, especially in large artisan families who spent most of their time working in the workshop and sometimes even slept there. The Chajiks were no exception. Beyond the family, among those who had a significant impact on Sigmund, special mention should be made of his doctor and the child-minder. Freud himself recalled this in his later works. Interesting and mysterious was the child-minder. Freud once recalled: "In this dream-like world, I remember the child-minder. She took care of me from infancy until I was two and a half years old. Although the impression has long faded, it still lingers in my consciousness. According to the information I gathered from my mother, she was both old and ugly but clever and capable. And according to the conclusions I drew from these dreams, she had always been extremely indulgent toward me, while if I did not keep tidy as she instructed, she would scold me severely. She nurtured me with all her heart, in my dreams, she was like an old woman from the prehistoric era, possessing a certain authority over me." This woman often took him to the Catholic church. On October 3, 1897, Freud mentioned this in a letter to Fliess. He said: "I can only say that the 'original creator' of my troubles was an old and ugly, clever and capable woman. She often told me stories about the all-powerful God and hell, and she had a very high opinion of my abilities." A few days later, on October 15, he wrote to Fliess again: "I asked my mother if she still remembered the wet nurse. She said of course she did. The wet nurse was an old and ugly woman who often took you to church. On the way home from the church, you would always recount the sermons to us, talking about the all-powerful God. When I first gave birth to Anna (born on December 31, 1858—according to the records of another religious church in Freiburg), I discovered she was a thief. We found many new coins, ten-dollar silver coins, and toys given to you there. Your brother Philipp went to report the matter, and she was imprisoned for ten months." Regarding his happy childhood and the wet nurse, Freud had other vague impressions: "For example, she often asked me to secretly keep the small coins given to me by others