Goat beat Freud

Residents of an historic Prague neighbourhood have voted for a statue of a goat rather than a monument to famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

District mayor Petr Hejma said some voters in the referendum said they would prefer a goat statue instead of the proposed Freud sculpture because it was to be located in an area known as Kozi Placek, or Goat Square.

About 75 per cent of voters said no to the proposed sculpture, which was to portray Freud seated at a table.

The referendum was non-binding and Prague's city government will take the final decision on whether to erect the monument.

After the sculpture proposal drew criticism, officials called for a neighbourhood referendum.

An association called Friends of the Goat was formed, which said a Freud monument could be placed anywhere, while "a statue of a goat can only be situated on Goat Square".

"First, the statue is hideous, and second, Freud surely never heard of Kozi Placek," a woman said after voting on Friday.

"We should put a goat statue there instead."

Freud, who was known for his work with the subconscious, was born in the eastern Czech town of Priborborn and later moved to Austria with his family. He died in 1939.