On May 22, 1922, having learned from his experience of the two-year-old Berlin psychoanalytic polyclinic, Eduard Hitschmann inaugurated the Ambulatorium or psychoanalytic dispensary as director in the premises of the Vienna polyclinic, not far from Vienna's AHK General Hospital. This creation was the realization of Freud's dream of making psychoanalysis accessible to populations with modest incomes, but an administrative measure threatening to close the establishment allowed only medical doctors to practice there. Each physician in the Vienna Society had to contribute at least one free analysis.

Lectures were given periodically. Early topics included "Introduction to Psychoanalysis," by Eduard Hitschmann; and "What Every Practicing Physician Should Know about Psychoanalysis," by Felix Deutsch. Later topics included "Psychoanalysis for Beginners," from Paul Federn; "The Theory of the Libido," from Ludwig Jekels; "The Theory of...