Sigmund Freud’s flight from Nazi Austria in 1938 was a forced departure from Vienna after Germany annexed Austria, ending the city’s place as his home for most of his life and beginning his exile in England. The brief account of the move gains its significance from the contrast between a life shaped in Vienna and an ending in exile: Freud died in London in 1939.

Background and Departure

Freud had been born in Moravia in 1856 and brought to Vienna by his parents at the age of four. He lived there until 1938, when Hitler’s annexation of Austria compelled him to leave for London. The evidence presents the move as a consequence of the political seizure of Austria, not as a voluntary change of residence.

Exile and Aftermath

The departure opened Freud’s final period in England. He died in London on 23 September 1939, a year after leaving Vienna. His flight therefore stands at the boundary between decades of life in the city where he had trained and worked and the brief final exile that ended with his death.