Freud as a Father: The Testimony of His Letters to His Five Older Children

This paper is based on Freud’s surviving letters to his five older children that have been recently published in German. They attest to the degree of Freud’s involvement in upholding his family network, which for him was a crucial value. Freud as a father felt particularly responsible in the areas of money and health. His main concern for his sons and sons-in-law was their professional position, for his daughters their choice of a husband. He was not a father for everyday, but rather for exceptional situations, as seen in his “emergency letters.” Without hiding his own views, he was never reproachful or moralizing to his children, but assured them of his solidarity even in situations of conflict. Freud transferred his materialistically solid humanism, which is reflected in these letters, to the theory and practice of psychoanalysis, thus contributing to its lasting attraction.