Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) war ein bedeutender österreichischer Arzt und Psychologe. Er ist Begründer der Psychoanalyse. Obwohl er als Jude geboren war, war er nicht ein religiöser Mann.

Freud hat an der Universität in Wien studiert, wo er neue Theorien entwickelte über die Art des Denkens. Er hat viele Experimente über das Unterbewusstsein gemacht. Er hat Leute hypnotisiert, so dass er ihre unterdrückten Erinnerungen herausfinden könnte. Freud hat auch Träume interpretiert.

1906 traf Freud den Fachkollegen Carl Jung zum ersten Mal. Sie fingen zusammen zu arbeiten an, da sie ähnliche Ideen hatten. Obwohl Freud und Jung für viele Jahre zusammen arbeiteten, Jung dachte dass Freud zu negativ und zu abhängig von seinen Theorien über Sexualität war. Danach haben sie zusammen arbeiten aufgehört.

Die Ideen von Freud über Sexualität und seine Theorien und Methoden werden immer noch heute kontrovers diskutiert. Dennoch gilt Freud als einer der einflussreichsten Denker des 20. Jahrhunderts.

German is spoken by approximately 100 million people all over the world. It is an official language in: Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland as well as provinces found in eastern France and northern Italy. German speakers have also emigrated to numerous other countries. Here are some more interesting facts about the German language:

There are around 200 modern dialects of German. These dialects, called Mundart in German, are regional and can be so different as to cause people to be unable to communicate with each other. Therefore, German speakers learn High German or Hochdeutsch in school. All newspapers are written in this standard German and this is also how business and politics is conducted.

The German alphabet features some interesting letters. The letters a, u and o can all add an umlaut (two dots above it) and create a new vowel sound. There is also the letter which looks somewhat like a B in English but is actually a double s.  It has two names: eszett or scharfes s and looks like this: ß.

Until 1945 German was written with an old Gothic style script known as Faktura.  This script was commonly used throughout Western Europe until the 17th century but continued in Germany  until the end of WWII.

Finally, the German language allows for enormously long compound nouns. While these are definitely tongue twisters for newcomers to the language, they are also a lot of fun to learn. Here is one of my favourites: die Verschlimmbesserung. Defined as an intended improvement that makes things worse!

Salzburg is the capital city of the province of Salzburg in Austria. The city has an approximate population of 150,000 and is located along the Salzach River at the northern boundary of the Alps. The most prominent feature of its skyline is a fort or Festung located up on a hill. This iconic building overlooks the city and dates back to 1077! Salzburg is very popular with tourists year round owing to its beautiful old town or Altstadt, great café culture, and vibrant music and arts scene.

Salzburg’s long history is reflected in its architecture. Modern buildings are interspersed with beautiful examples of Gothic and Romanesque architecture from centuries past. There is much to explore among the meandering cobblestoned streets, the most famous of which is the Getreidegasse. This long street winds its way through most of the old town district and includes the birthplace of its most famous citizen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart was born at Getreidegasse number 9 in 1756. A child genius and musical prodigy, Mozart began composing by the age of five.  As a child, he toured throughout central Europe with his father and older sister, also musicians. He mostly played the piano in the salons of the upper classes for a fee. By the time of his death at age 35, Mozart had produced over 600 works. His influence can be felt today in the numerous gift shops, restaurants and even the famous Mozart Kugel chocolate featured below.

Another claim to fame for Salzburg is as the home of the filming of the movie The Sound of Music. People from throughout the world who love this iconic film come to Salzburg to take part in one of the many tours that visit the sites where this film was shot. Music is still central to Austrian culture today. The best time to catch live classical music performances in Salzburg is during the Festspiele that takes place every summer at various venues throughout the downtown core. For the official German language website click here.