In 1938 Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, fled the Nazi invasion of Austria and arrived with his wife and family in North London. It was from his base in Hampstead that Freud spread his doctrine around the world, becoming one of the most controversial figures of the century, creating an entire new analytical discipline and bringing human neuroses into the open.

The museum is part shrine, part educational resource, with regular talks and lectures and an extensive bookshop. You can also see Freud's study and his eccentric collection of antiquities, and of course the famous couch upon which his clients all reclined, a tempting looking ottoman covered in a splendid rug. Years after his death the house still conveys the serious but mould-breaking nature of a man who many regard as the most important healer in modern times.