Sigmund Freud's games box
In addition to common, popular games of the day including chess, draughts, Nine Men’s Morris and dominoes, Sigmund Freud’s two-tiered wooden games box also contains three Tarock decks, a highly popular card game in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Many other famous figures before Freud were avid players of this card game from the 15th century, that spread all over Europe at the peak of its popularity. At the turn of the century people still liked to play it in coffee-houses or at friendly get-togethers. Freud was a good chess player, but was even more enthusiastic about Tarock, meeting friends for a weekly game. Tarock was equally very popular among the various generations of the Freud family: Sigmund’s mother was a master player, and he also enthused his sister-in-law Minna and youngest daughter Anna for the game. Two of the decks bear the date of their first use: “6 May” and “22 Nov[ember]”. Not only the cards bear traces of the Freud family’s hand. If you look closely at the Nine Men’s Morris board, you will notice the words “Martin Freud” [note: Jean-Martin Freud, Martha and Sigmund Freud’s eldest son] finely engraved in Kurrent script.
Picture: Florian Lierzer