| Deutsche Fassung |
| Geological, Mineralogical and Palaeontological Objects from Blumenbach’s collections |
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| Example (not clickable/enlargeable): 1: Kiesel |
| Instructions for use |
| Clicking on the links opens high-resolution photos (each approx. 18 MBytes) in a new browser window. The photos can be viewed in detail using the browser’s zoom function (key combination Ctrl + “+”). |
| The copyright of the fotos is held by the Geoscience Museum of the University of Göttingen (GZG Museum / G. Hundertmark). |
| Overview |
| See below for explanations of the structure of the material and of the photos. |
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| Explanations |
| The photos show the contents of the display cases of the exhibition “Blumenbachs Naturgeschichte. Objektbezogene Lehre in der Frühzeit der Göttinger Geowissenschaften” (Blumenbach’s Natural History. Object-related teaching in the early days of the Göttingen geosciences; summer term 2022 to summer term 2023). The exhibition was prepared by Dr Alexander Gehler, curator of the Geosciences Museum Göttingen, and Dr Nadine Schäfer, staff member of the project “Johann Friedrich Blumenbach – Online”. It showed a selection of objects in today’s Geosciences Collection of the University of Göttingen and therefore includes objects from palaeontology, mineralogy, geology and meteoritics. One selection criterion was the presence of original labels or identification slips from Blumenbach’s hand, which were shown together with the objects. |
| The arrangement is essentially based on the systematics of the sections on mineralogy and on petrifactions of Blumenbach’s Handbuch der Naturgeschichte and thus reflects the geoscientific taxonomy around 1800. At that time, the university’s Academic Museum also presented its holdings according to the classification of Blumenbach’s Handbuch (cf. “3. Vom Museum.” In: Versuch einer academischen Gelehrten-Geschichte von der Georg-Augustus-Universität zu Göttingen. Zweyter Theil von 1765. bis 1788. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1788, pp. 232–240 § 166–174, here p. 233 § 168; digital copy). The showcases each contain explanatory texts on the terminology in use at the time. |
| Detailed information on all the objects on display will be available in the collection object database of the project “Johann Friedrich Blumenbach – Online” (currently still restricted access; access data available on request). Individual objects are already included in the freely accessible collection portal of the University of Göttingen. |