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nanny being his (Freud’s) “primary originator,” and it contains an error with respect to time.
Specifically, the train journey from Leipzig to Vienna is known to have occurred when
Freud was about three and a half, since the family moved to Vienna in late 1859 or 1860
after several months in Leipzig. At this time, Sigmund was three and a half or slightly
older. This error, commonly noted by Freud’s biographers,81 is one of placing an event too early.
In summary, then, I believe there are excellent reasons to think that the nanny was dismissed some months after December 31, 1858, and that late May (or early June) is the most plausible time. (More evidence for the late May or early June time is given below in connection with Freud’s associations to Pentecost.) And I also believe that the family left Freiberg shortly thereafter. Again, more evidence for this time of year is given in the later sections dealing with Easter and Pentecost. Was His Nanny a Thief?In fact, the entire episode of the nanny’s alleged theft is strange. First, why would a woman acknowledged as shrewd be so foolish as to leave stolen coins in a readily discovered place or among her possessions? Did she hide them in the Freuds’ one room? On her person? Then how account for the toys? Why not spend the coins quickly or at least hide them in a safe place? Also unusual is that Freud’s mother said the nurse stole the toys, since these were also found among the coins. She might steal toys for members of her family,82 but why keep several of them together with stolen money? All this is most odd, especially given the extreme likelihood that Freud’s mother must have looked on the nanny with increasing jealousy and dismay. Here was this peasant woman who was in many ways taking over the role of a mother in the life of her lively and attractive first-born son. Not only was the nanny coming to be extremely important to her son’s affections, but she was also taking him to church and instructing him in Christianity. Amalia Freud was never very serious about her own Judaism; still, there is certainly no reason to think she was benevolently disposed toward Christianity. Possibly, her young son’s early training in Christianity aroused real concern. If so, this was a reason why the Freuds, in particular Amalia, would have wished to get rid of the nanny. In addition, the issue of proving theft involving a nanny and her charge would have been immediately understood as difficult. Two- and three-year-old children have no concept of money, and frequently give coins to those they like. During the writing of this book, I often noticed that my own three-year-old son would ask occasionally for coins, especially shiny ones, and that just as often he would give coins to me. He also did |