[Freud and the Hammerschlag family--a formative relationship]

From his obituary on Samuel Hammerschlag we know of Freud's great veneration for his teacher of Jewish religion. However, not only Hammerschlag himself but his whole family had a formative influence on young Freud who was deeply impressed by their humanity. This paper describes Freud's relationship to all family members. In particular it shows how warmly he felt towards the only daughter, Anna Hammerschlag, who was his patient for a while and whom he chose as a godmother of his youngest daughter Anna. By virtue of the crucial role she played in Freud's "specimen dream" of July 1895 ("Irma's injection"), she also became as it were the godmother of Freud's magnum opus, The Interpretation of Dreams.--All known surviving letters of Freud to members of the Hammerschlag family are published here for the first time.