20 years of SFU | Anniversary celebration of the Sigmund Freud Private University

Representatives from science and politics celebrated the 20th anniversary of Austria’s largest private university – the Federal President was also present with a video message.

On June 21, employees, companions and invited guests from politics and science celebrated SFU’s 20th anniversary at Campus Prater. City Councillor Peter Hacker and Alexander Nikolai, District Head of Leopoldstadt, were among those in attendance. The ceremony not only paid tribute to the founding of the university 20 years ago, but also handed over the rectorate from founding rector Alfred Pritz to his successor Johannes Pollak. The farewell speeches by Pritz and co-founders Jutta Fiegl and Heinz Laubreuter, who are also retiring from the day-to-day business of the university, were followed by the presentation of the Rector’s Chain as a ceremonial highlight.

In his video message, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen emphasized the role of the SFU as a humanistic institution and Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Federal Minister for Women, Science and Research, emphasized the social importance of the university in her welcoming address, which was also transmitted by video. Peter Hacker, Executive City Councillor for Social Affairs, Health and Sport, gave the welcoming speech on site and emphasized the importance of the cooperation between the Vienna Health Association and the university for the science location and the healthcare system.

The other keynote speakers conveyed a picture of the thematic breadth of the SFU’s social impact as an institution: Gertrude Brinek, former Ombudswoman and Chair of the SFU University Council, outlined the outstanding role of the SFU and Alfred Pritz in the establishment and further development of psychotherapy in Austria in her speech. Martin Rummel, Rector of the Anton Bruckner Private University and Chairman of the Austrian Private Universities Conference (ÖPUK), pointed out the central importance of the private university sector for the freedom and independence of science and thus for the success of the university location. Michael Kierein, long-standing Head of the Department of Legal Affairs for Doctors, Psychology, Psychotherapy and Music Therapy at the Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection, echoed the words of the Federal President and praised the SFU as a place of lived humanism. According to Kierein, this project would be unthinkable without the personal achievements of the founding members Alfred Pritz, Jutta Fiegl, Heinz Laubreuter and Elisabeth Dokulil (formerly Vykoukal).

Accompanied by ethnic and world music from the Viennese Tschuschenkapelle and a film documentary about the first 20 years of SFU, the event marked the midpoint and highlight of SFU’s anniversary year 2025 right on the summer solstice.

Impressions*