On 27 February 1907, in the intellectual heart of Vienna, a young Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung, walked into the presence of the towering Sigmund Freud, igniting a conversation that would stretch for an astonishing thirteen hours.
Their encounter was a confluence of brilliance—Jung, the ambitious protégé, eager to delve into the depths of the unconscious, and Freud, the established father of psychoanalysis, seeing in Jung a potential heir to his burgeoning field.
Their initial camaraderie was palpable, with Freud believing Jung’s scientific rigour and Protestant background could help universalise psychoanalysis beyond its Jewish intellectual circles.
However, beneath the surface of this historic meeting lay the seeds of future discord.
Their intellectual synergy, though powerful, was destined to unravel under the weight of diverging theories—Freud’s insistence on sexuality as the driving force of the psyche clashing with Jung’s more expansive, mystical approach to the unconscious.
What began as an exhilarating exchange in Vienna would ultimately fracture into one of psychology’s most famous schisms.