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Freud Corner is the name used for the place within
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
in North London, where the
funerary urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
s of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
and many other members of the
Freud family The family of Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychoanalysis, lived in Austria and Germany until the 1930s before emigrating to England, Canada, and the United States. Several of Freud's descendants and relatives have become well known in different f ...
are deposited.


History

When writing his will in 1919, Sigmund Freud stated that he wanted to be
cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...
as it was a cheaper and easier process than conventional burial. Freud died at 3 am on 23 September 1939. Three days later, his body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. His son Ernst Freud had organised the
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...
arrangements, and Harrods of Knightsbridge acted as
funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as ...
s.Michael Turner: After the funeral, Freud's ashes were deposited in an
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
bell krater A krater or crater ( grc-gre, , ''kratēr'', literally "mixing vessel") was a large two-handled shape of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, krat ...
from the
4th century BC The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspec ...
which came from his large collection of over 2000 antiquities (see below). The ancient bell krater, now serving as a funerary urn, was later placed atop a black marble plinth, designed by Ernst Freud and erected in the crematorium's ''Ernest George Columbarium''. This building, built 1922–1928, was designed after Ernest George's death by Alfred Yeates in
Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
stylewww.architecture.com - Golders Green Crematorium, London: the East Columbarium (RIBA102395)
/ref> as a three-sided building, grouped around a central lawn and a lily pond. After
Martha Freud Martha Bernays ( , ; 26 July 1861 – 2 November 1951) was the wife of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Bernays was the second daughter of Emmeline and Berman Bernays. Her paternal grandfather Isaac Bernays was a Chief Rabbi of Hamburg. B ...
's death in 1951, her ashes were also placed into the ancient bell krater.Janine Burke: ''The Sphinx at the Table: Sigmund Freud's Art Collection and the Development of Psychoanalysis'', New York: Walker and Co. 2006, p. 340. In the decades that followed, many more members of the Freud family were cremated at Golders Green: Robert Hollitscher (Sigmund Freud's son-in-law), who died in 1959; Jean-Martin Freud (Sigmund Freud's son), who died in 1967; Oliver Freud (Sigmund Freud's son), who died in 1969; Ernst Freud (Sigmund Freud's son), who died in 1970; Henny Freud (née Fuchs, second wife of Oliver Freud), who died in 1971; Mathilde Hollitscher (Sigmund Freud's daughter, widow of Robert Hollitscher), who died in 1978;
Anna Freud Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribut ...
(Sigmund Freud's daughter), who died in 1982; Colin Peter Freud (Sigmund Freud's great-grandson), who died in 1987; Annette Freud (née Krarup, wife of Anton Walter Freud), who died in 2000 and Anton Walter Freud, who died in 2004. Friends of the Freud family whose ashes rest with them are Lajos Lévy, who died in 1961; his widow Katá, who died in 1969; Dorothy Burlingham, who died in 1979; Jula Weiss, who died in 1994 and Tini Maresch, who died in 1996. The vessels containing their ashes are today kept on three-tiered white stone shelves erected on either side of the plinth with Sigmund and Martha Freud's funerary urn. On New Year's Day 2014, Golders Green Crematorium staff discovered that burglars had apparently broken into the Ernest George Columbarium overnight and smashed the ancient bell krater containing Sigmund and Martha Freud's ashes in the attempt to steal the vessel. The severely damaged urn was afterwards temporarily moved to a secure location. Today the restored urn is protected by a case of special glass and guarded. Visits to Freud Corner can only be made in the company of a member of Golders Green Crematorium's staff and after reporting to reception.


Description

Freud Corner occupies a window niche, built in red brick, inside the crematorium's Ernest George Columbarium. In the centre of this niche stands a black marble plinth, with the funerary urn of
Sigmund In Norse mythology, Sigmund ( non, Sigmundr , ang, Sigemund) is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurð the d ...
and
Martha Freud Martha Bernays ( , ; 26 July 1861 – 2 November 1951) was the wife of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Bernays was the second daughter of Emmeline and Berman Bernays. Her paternal grandfather Isaac Bernays was a Chief Rabbi of Hamburg. B ...
on top. Their names, dates of birth and death are inscribed on the plinth in gold lettering. The vessel containing their ashes is a sealed
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
bell krater A krater or crater ( grc-gre, , ''kratēr'', literally "mixing vessel") was a large two-handled shape of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, krat ...
, likely made in
Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...
, painted with Dionysian scenes. One of these images depicts Dionysus with a
maenad In Greek mythology, maenads (; grc, μαινάδες ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Maenads were known as Bassarids ...
. It is not known why, when, and by whom the decision was made to place Freud's ashes in this vessel; there is no mention of such an intention in any of Freud's correspondence, in his last will, or in any subsequent family correspondence. Freud had received this 2,300-year-old item from
Princess Marie Bonaparte Princess Marie Bonaparte (2 July 1882 – 21 September 1962), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark upon her marriage, was a French author and psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud. Her wealth contributed to the popularity o ...
for his 75th birthday on 6 May 1931. Freud loved the piece, writing to Marie Bonaparte about it: "...it is a pity one cannot take it into one's grave."Bryony Davies:
How did Freud celebrate his birthday?
', Freud Museum London (6 May 2019), access date 2019-12-29.
He used to keep the bell krater on display in his study at Berggasse 19, Vienna, until his forced move to the United Kingdom in June 1938. The white stone shelf to the left of the black marble plinth with the ancient Greek bell krater holds nine urns, . While most of these are brick-sized brownish metal containers inscribed with the name, date of birth and date of death of the deceased, both the cremated remains of Colin Peter Freud and of Margaret Freud are kept in wooden caskets. The ashes of Dr. Lajos Lévy and his wife Katá are in the same vessel. The following rest here: The white stone shelf to the right of the black marble plinth currently holds four urns. The ashes of Tini Maresch are in a brick-sized brownish metal container like those already mentioned. So are those of Mathilde Hollitscher (''née'' Freud) and her husband Robert, which are in the same vessel. The ashes of Anton Walter Freud and his wife Annette share a large wooden casket, while the cremated remains of Henny Freud are kept in a stone urn made of
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
. The following rest here:


References


External links


High resolution photo of name plaques in Freud Corner (Golders Green Crematorium)
{{Sigmund Freud, state=collapsed Freud family Golders Green Crematorium