Talk on Sigmund Freud

Wednesday morning saw a visit by Stefan from the Freud Museum to talk to pupils in Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 on the life and ideas of Sigmund Freud, who is one of Hampstead’s most famous residents. Freud came to live in the UK at the very end of his life, having had to flee his native Austria after the Nazi takeover in the spring of 1938. Stefan set out relevant background details in terms of when Freud lived and where he worked for most of his life and then gave an account of his main ideas, focussing on psychoanalysis and the study of dreams as a clue to the workings of the unconscious mind. It was made clear just how original Freud was as a thinker and also how controversial his ideas were both during his lifetime and subsequently. The talk gave rise to a great many questions from pupils. When the main session was over, Year 8 pupils remained behind in order to discuss various themes which had arisen, such as Freud’s attitude to religion. Interest was undoubtedly aroused in this brilliant thinker and it is hard to think that groups of pupils will not be making their way down the hill for a visit to the Museum in the near future.