The Dream - Introduction into the Psychology of Dreams complicated works", which could then build up on his own work. "The Dream" was written in 1918, a time in which Europe had suffered from World War I for nearly four years already when it was finally about to come to an end. Furthermore, it originates from a period in which the field of psychology was greatly influenced by psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and like-minded psychologists. Especially since the publication of Freud's Interpretation of Dreams ("Traumdeutung") in 1900, psychoanalysis in general, and dream interpretation in particular, became of increasing interest among professionals as well as laymen. Many people were
The Dream - Introduction into the Psychology of Dreams fascinated by the putative meaning of their dreams and desired to discover their unconscious selves by means of interpreting them. In the following years, Silberer noticed that while the literature on the interpretation of dreams was increasing in amount and complexity, general information on basic elements of dreams was deficient. Therefore, he began to give public lectures on fundamental knowledge about dreams as well as his specific findings in this field in Vienna. After various listeners of one of such lectures had assured him that he had succeeded in providing an understandable introduction into the psychology of dreams, Silberer decided