Scientific and Art Collections TUD Dresden University of Technology
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Scientific and Art Collections TUD Dresden University of Technology
4 Content 5 Preface 7 KIRSTEN VINCENZ T he collections of TUD Dresden University of Technology – tradition and new perspectives 17 KLAUS MAUERSBERGER The historical development of the collections at the TUD Dresden University of Technology 23 LUTZ GRAEFE The Collection of Astronomic-Geodetic Instruments 35 FRANK MÜLLER The Botanical Collection 47 MARINA LIENERT · CARIS-PETRA HEIDEL The Medical-Historical Collection 57 HORST HARTMANN · KIRSTEN VINCENZ The Dye Collection 69 DANIEL LORDICK The Collection of Mathematical Models 81 MANFRED F. BUCHROITHNER · WOLF GÜNTHER KOCH The Cartographic Collection 93 KLAUS MAUERSBERGER The “elektron” Collection of Communication Engineering and Precision Technology 105 RÜDIGER HOFFMANN The Historical Acoustic-Phonetic Collection 117 ECKHARD BENDIN The Color Research & Theory Collection 129 CHRISTIAN WÖLFEL · JENS KRZYWINSKI The Industrial Design Collection 139 GWENDOLIN KREMER · MARIA OBENAUS The Art Collection – living testimony of the University's history 155 KLAUS MAUERSBERGER The Collection “Doctors, Patients and Disease in Art” 169 JÖRG ZAUN S cientific and Art Collections – an Overview Scope – Location – Contacts 190 Literature and Sources 196 Index of Names 199 Authores 200 Publishing Details
5 Preface How can we hope to understand a world that has become increasingly digital and global and its material organization has become more and more complex? What challenges arise from rapid technological developments? How can we explain our present, while also reflecting on the future? And what is the role of arts, sciences and engineering in global processes of transformation? As a university, TUD Dresden University of Technology aims to provide answers by discussing, defining, investigating, and researching such issues. Documenting an almost 200-year history of generating and teaching knowledge, TUD’s extensive collections of objects from the natural sciences and engineering as well as its art collection bear testimony to who we are as a university. Exhibits from the early 19th century connect the history of scientific knowledge with current research. When objects of the past tell us a story that may give rise to novel research approaches, they even have an influence on future technologies: Thanks to methods of DNA sequencing, genetic changes in plants can now be reconstructed using historical herbarium specimens, whereas experimental equipment for speech synthesis that is decades old inspires new approaches for generating computer voices. TUD’s rich collections are of outstanding value and significance as starting points for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations at both the international and local level between engineering, the natural sciences and the humanities. As objects of societal transfer, they serve as interfaces that convey and embed topics relevant to the future both within and beyond scientific communities. Our Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections plays a central role in preserving the collections, making them accessible, analyzing them and ultimately integrating them into research and art projects. For the first time, by establishing a collection data base and a team of restorers, a permanent basis has been created for consolidating our academic culture of objects. This volume was first published in 2015, and has now been revised and updated for the new edition. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all those involved: The authors and Dr. Klaus Mauersberger, who was the project leader for the first edition, the team and leadership of the Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections for their editing and implementation, and the “Sandstein Verlag” for the professional design and production of the volume. My special thanks go to the Association of Friends and Sponsors of TUD (GFF), which once again provided the funding and has demonstrated particular commitment to our collections in recent years in the form of special sponsorship projects. In addition, I would like to thank all those who – mostly alongside their professional activities or on a voluntary basis in retirement – have dedicated themselves to caring for the diverse collections of TUD and making them accessible. Professor Dr. Ursula M. Staudinger Rector TUD Dresden University of Technology
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7 As home to 40 collections of technical and scientific objects and to the artworks it owns, TUD Dresden University of Technology boasts a large and significant stock of historical and contemporary artefacts from teaching, research and art. Objects in university collections differ from those in museums as a consequence of the specific nature of their origin, since they do not represent a past epoch that has now been concluded but are – as it were – in flux. They can undergo noticeable changes in meaning, either rapidly or gradually, changing their status within the university as the decades pass. Collections of scientific devices or models, such as those that have been created primarily at technical universities, usually were − and continue to be − purchased or produced for teaching or specific research purposes. These objects are utilized, used up, sometimes exchanged or renewed over the course of decades. They change during and due to the passage of time. On the one hand, they are therefore – like the scientific contexts that gave rise to them – subject to a constant yet simultaneously discontinuous process of historization: Little by little, the objects emerge from their original contexts in research and teaching and become cultural assets of past research or teaching practice. In this way, they develop into a meaningful part of the academic tradition of the individual subjects as well as of the history of the respective university as a whole. Their potential significance both for future research in the history of science and for the indispensable self-reflection of disciplines or institutions can, however, scarcely be overestimated. At the same time, scientific collections of objects from the past can provide surprising answers to pressing questions of current research, such as those regarding climate change, evolutionary theory, or biodiversity. In addition to the history-of-science perspective, natural history collections in particular hold specific, latent opportunities which only reveal themselves after sufficient time has passed. New analytical methods can be employed to examine objects such as historical herbaria, drill cores, or seafloor sediments, allowing us to read the information that they have stored for many decades or even millennia. For every university collection, this opens up new – and often unimagined – opportunities to contribute to current research. At universities, new collections arising from current contexts of research and teaching continue to be created alongside the historical inventories whose potential is being rediscovered. Nowadays, their materiality is shifting more and more into the digital space, raising entirely new questions regarding use, access, and preservation. By implication, it is a common feature of all scientific collections that they are valuable material witnesses to the development of an academic discipline and are an essential part of scientific practice at the respective university. The heterogeneity of the objects in university collections paints a complex picture. Their status and, as a consequence, their significance for The collections of TUD Dresden University of Technology – tradition and new perspectives KIRSTEN VINCENZ Historical collection cabinet from the field of chemistry in the permanent exhibition of the Office for Academic Heritage (OAH), 2019 “Collecting always precedes science; there is nothing odd about that; for collecting must be before science; but what is odd is that the urge to collect enters our minds when a science is intended to appear, even if we do not yet know what this science will contain.” Adalbert Stifter 1857
8 the university oscillates between their present and future relevance as objects of inquiry, their worth as historical artefacts, or even as antiquarian treasures. Increasingly, they are being discovered as influential agents of scientific communication. During the past decades, some universities have therefore concluded that objects in academic collections require special protection, care, and scientific processing. The Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections at TUD – Past and Present The Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific an Art Collections at TUD is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Germany. In the context of the University’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1978, numerous objects once again became a focus of attention, primarily as physical witnesses to the University’s history. As an immediate consequence, a central Office for Academic Heritage at TUD was established just a year later. Already at that point, a first stocktaking in a newly founded inventory began, containing, in particular, historically significant objects for teaching purposes. This stocktaking continued over the years and was always adapted to the scientific standards of the day. The first “Regulations regarding the Museum Fund”, which stipulate how to handle the assorted collections within the University, were issued in 1987. During the University’s restructuring following reunification, the collections enjoyed a sharp increase in interest, particularly as regards their unique historical artefacts. In this context, the Office for Academic Heritage was initially affiliated with the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science. In 2004, due to its growing significance, it was upgraded to a central unit reporting directly to the University Chancellor. At the same time, the ALTANAGallery in the Görges Building was integrated into the Office for Academic Heritage, followed a little later by the Art Collection, which until 2007 had been administered by an Artistic Advisory Board at the Faculty of Architecture. View into the permanent exhibition of the OAH 2019
9 The collections of TUD Dresden University of Technology – tradition and new perspectives A comprehensive collections policy, which recognized the particular value of the academic and cultural heritage for the University, ensuring its survival, came into force for the first time in the shape of the “Preservation of the Scientific and Technical Collections, the Art Collections and the Cultural Monuments of TUD” (Rundschreiben 1/2004). These regulations defined the Office for Academic Heritage’s remit regarding guidance, advice and control as well as that of the “safeguarding institutions”. This terminology reveals the principle of decentralized collections that is practiced at TUD: The collections remain the responsibility of the different chairs,institutes, faculties or even workshops. The actual institution is responsible for appointing a collection officer and communicating movement and change in the collections. The decision to keep collections with supposedly mere historical value in their original contexts has since repeatedly proven to be the right one, as it allows them to be “reactivated” and used in current research and teaching. As with the precious works of art in its museums and its exceptional cultural monuments, collections in the Free State of Saxony are governed by the State’s Heritage Protection Law. This means they are entitled to the protection of the state and the associated duty of preservation. The regulations concerning collections at TUD can therefore invoke the status of state heritage. Compared to other university collections in Germany, this constitutes a positive exception. The regulations for collections and the principles of collecting have created important fundamentals for an orderly collecting process at TUD, and still serve as an example for similar efforts. For the introduction of these structures that are still in existence today, thanks must go to Klaus Mauersberger, the Director of the Office for Academic Heritage from 1993 to 2015. He also shouldered the responsibility for the first edition of this volume and describes the historical development of the collections in this new edition. New strategic orientation of the Office for Academic Heritage from 2016 The core tasks of the Office for Academic Heritage can be divided into three main areas: Preservation and use of the University collections, documentation and reflection regarding topics concerning the University and the history of its collections, as well as maintaining the pieces of art in University ownership and organizing exhibitions. Since 2016, under new leadership and a new team, it has been possible to plan and successfully implement a number of innovations for the University gallery and the art holdings, as well as in the area of collection maintenance. A primary goal of the new strategic orientation was to make greater use of the collections of technical and scientific objects for today’s research projects in teaching, and for new and cross-university projects conveying knowledge. It was also a priority to make them more visible inside the University and beyond, both throughout Germany and internationally. Back in 2011, the German Science and Humanities Council formulated its “Recommendations on Scientific Collections as Research Infrastructures” (German Science and Humanities Council 2011), creating a crucial basis for re-evaluating university collections and also as a result, for the orientation of the Dresden Office for Academic Heritage. Building on the existing structures, greater emphasis was given to previously unused potentials of the collections as bearers of meaning in scientific practice, as a material source of research, but also as an object of artistic examination. A prerequisite for documenting and taking stock of the objects in the collections was a modern database, which was introduced in 2019, replacing existing inventories. From the end of 2020, it was possible for the first time to implement urgently needed restoration measures and continuous monitoring of the inventory by hiring more staff for the Office for Academic Heritage. The development of a digital and conservational infrastructure will ensure the future preservation and usability of the collections. The creation of the Office for Academic Heritage’s new Scientific Advisory Board in 2015 constituted a far-reaching structural change. The foremost task of the Advisory Board is to “Scientific collections should be seen as essential research infrastructures whose preservation, upkeep and usability for research is not a dispensable ancillary service but a core task for the institutions which support them. The universities in particular need to embrace this view: even if universities are not museums, in their capacity as organisational centres of science and key sites for knowledge production and knowledge transfer, they are substantially dependent on collections as infrastructure.” German Science and Humanities Council 2011, p. 45
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17 The guiding principles of polytechnic education, as developed at the École Polytechnique in Paris from 1794, aimed at practical application and democratization. Accordingly, great value was attached to the practical experience of technology. At that time, it was possible to acquire these primarily through drawing exercises, demonstrations and experiments, as well as through geometric methods. In order to synthesize new technical means, it was supremely important to be able to determine from a drawing those connections that were both constructive and related to manufacturing technology. Therefore, the educational goals at the emerging polytechnic schools involved training spatial powers of imagination, conveying design thinking and encouraging precision skills. Such precision and reproducibility were required by the developing mechanized production in factories. Mechanical engineering was, then, paramount in engineering endeavors. The great demand for engines and work machines gave rise to a flood of original inventions for transforming movement and force, and also led to the publication of entire catalogs of elementary mechanisms. These basic ideas on construction, unsurpassable in their diversity and objectified as models, promoted the creative drafting of new variations and combinations when it came to training practical mechanics and mechanical engineers. At the Technical School* in Dresden founded in 1828, models and other visual aids were also incorporated into teaching at an early stage, partly to make up for the lack of suitable textbooks. From the beginning, the pupils were trained in the practical handling of machines, instruments and tools. Instruction sometimes took place in workshops and factories, comparable to today’s internships. During the founding years, the use of the Royal Model Chamber − the remaining stock of which later formed part of the Mathematisch- Physikalischer Salon, Dresden’s collection of mathematical and scientific instruments in the Zwinger Building − was also subject to ministerial regulation. The special technical collections, which were primarily established at the polytechnic schools, thus represent the process of scientification of technology and industry. In addition to raw materials, material and product samples, devices, measuring instruments and entire machines, the collections mainly contained presentation sheets and models. In addition to the drawn templates used for technical instruction, the exceptional didactic value of the models should be emphasized. One of the earliest collections in Dresden, the “Machine and Model Cabinet”, was aimed at the training in mechanical engineering, whereby the mechanism and gear models can be attributed to the constructive branch of scientific mechanical engineering. The basic stock of today’s Collection of Mechanism and Gear KLAUS MAUERSBERGER The historical development of the collections at the TUD Dresden University of Technology Forest Zoological Collection (around 1860) in the main building of the Academy of Forestry in Tharandt * Since its foundation in 1828, the Technical School (Technische Bildungsanstalt) has undergone a series of name changes that reflect its constantly rising status and significance. In 1851, the Technical School (Technische Bildungsanstalt) became the Royal Polytechnic School (Königliche Polytechnische Schule). Since 1871 the name Polytechnic (Polytechnikum) was used, officially introduced as Royal Polytechnical College of Dresden (Königliches Polytechnicum zu Dresden) in 1878. In 1890, the College was given a university constitution and the name Royal Saxon Technical College (Kgl. Technische Hochschule Dresden/ TH Dresden). Finally, the renaming to TUD Dresden University of Technology followed in 1961.
18 Models goes back to the early years of the educational institution and is linked to the name of Johann Andreas Schubert, who was probably the most universal of technical scholars in Saxony at that time. From 1850, following the appointment of Julius Ambrosius Hülsse as Director of the Polytechnical School, the technology profile of mechanical engineering education became increasingly important. It is therefore not surprising that what are arguably the oldest technological material witnesses were gathered together in the Mechanical-Technological Collection. The collection, which was founded by Hülsse, underscores the great significance of the subject of mechanical technology as an intermediary for hands-on training. In order to demonstrate essential production areas and common processing procedures, this collection of teaching materials draws mainly on raw materials, semi-finished products, tools and finished products from the metal, wood and textile processing industries, which were often arranged systematically on educational charts and tableaus. A specific collection of geodetic instruments was assembled by August Nagel and has been continuously expanded since 1852. Today, the Collection of Astronomic-Geodetic Instruments contains some 150 historically significant instruments. Among them is one of the most valuable museum objects owned by TUD Dresden University of Technology: the Repsold Universal Instrument dating back to 1863. It is a testament to Nagel’s farsightedness, but also to that of the school authorities, that they acquired such an instrument in preparation for the triangulation and cartographic representation of the Kingdom of Saxony carried out between 1867 and 1878. The roots of the collections of mathematical models, physical and chemical apparatuses, and of the mineralogical and geological collections also date back to the foundation phase of TUD. Parts of the latter collection are still used for teaching purposes today. The core of the Botanical Collection with its valuable herbaria (The Herbarium Dresdense − international abbreviation DR) was transferred from the Natural History Museum in the Zwinger to the Tableau with gray cast iron parts (around 1870) formed on an insert molding machine Mechanical-Technological Collection Gear model after Johann Andreas Schubert (1833) In 1830, Johann Andreas Schubert took over the teaching of Constructive Geometry and Mechanics. According to his wishes, Johann Gottlieb Rehme, the model maker of the Royal Model Chamber, produced a series of models and thus laid the foundation of the Collection of Mechanism and Gear Models. The models no longer depicted entire machines, as had been customary until then, but only individual mechanisms. In this model, three variants for translating a circular motion into a linear motion are shown. (Photo: Franz Zadnicek, Dresden)
19 Polytechnical School in 1875. The Forestry Collections in Tharandt, on the other hand, house a wealth of instructive visual aids and reference materials, such as beetles, snails, butterflies, mosses, lichens, woods, forestry equipment and measuring instruments. However, the Academy of Forestry in Tharandt with its extensive collections was not affiliated to the Technical College until 1929. Thanks to the prospering “young industries” and their proximity to science, the spectrum of collections grew noticeably at the end of the 19th century. The increasing scientific collaboration with renowned companies also contributed significantly to the expansion of the experimental basis and the collection-related visual aids. One of the collections created during this period was the Chemistry Department’s Dye Collection. The comprehensive collection of dye samples documents impressively the worldwide development of dye chemistry and the dye industry. It is still used today to identify and compare dye samples. The electrotechnical collections also have their origins in these years. A particularly high-caliber collection is the “Historical Didactic Museum of Photography” (part of today’s Hermann Krone Collection), established by Hermann Krone and donated to the Technical College on the occasion of his retirement in 1907. The cultural and historical significance of numerous photographs, daguerreotypes and instruction charts handed over by this pioneer of scientific photography from Saxony extends far beyond the University. One particular feature of the institutionalization of Dresden’s collections of didactic and museum objects deserves to be emphasized: From the beginning, due to their evident specialist skills, professors at the Polytechnical College and its successor, the Technical College were also entrusted more and more with the supervision of the important scientific and technical collections as well as with the museums in the city of Dresden. It is in this personal union that the exemplary sample collection of architecture set up by Hermann Hettner and Cornelius Gurlitt also had its origins. This collection was used both as a source and as comparative material for studies in art history, architecture and construction technology. Mechanical-Technological Collection In 1905, the Mechanical-Technological Collection was reestablished in the attic of the newly constructed College Building (now the Zeuner Building) of the Mechanical Department.
The historical development of the collections at the TUD Dresden University of Technology 22
23 The well-known observatory tower of the Beyer Building, the landmark of the TUD Dresden University of Technology, houses a selection of the most notable objects belonging to the collection of historical instruments from the fields of astronomy and geodesy. Several display cabinets present to the interested visitor such instruments as theodolites, levels, a telescopic alidade, sextants, chronometers and meridian circles.* The Collection has its origins in the stock of devices belonging to the Geodetic Institute of the former Royal Polytechnical College and its later incarnation, the Technical College of Dresden. This means that most of the exhibited instruments were actually previously used in teaching. At the Technical School founded in 1828, Wilhelm Gotthelf Lohrmann gave geodetic lectures and conducted exercises already during the first years of the institution’s existence. Technological development, especially in the booming railway industry in Saxony, made the training of experts with skills in geodesy a matter of urgency. Lohrmann, who had already been put in charge of the valuable historical collections of the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in the Dresden Zwinger in 1827, now also became head of the Technical School. This was initially located in the former garden pavilion on the Brühl Terrace in the centre of the city. Technical training in surveying, which in those days was still quite hands-on, included site surveying and staking out building designs. At that time, the entire training for a surveyor was still very closely linked to civil engineering and architecture. Following Lohrmann’s untimely death in 1840, Johann Andreas Schubert – originally a mechanical engineer – assumed responsibility for significant parts of the lectures in geodesy and astronomy. In order to lighten Schubert’s extensive duties, his former student Christian August Nagel took up the position of Schubert’s assistant from 1849, and that of a regular teacher (Ordentlicher Lehrer) for geodesy at what had become the Royal Polytechnic School from 1851 (Peschel 1953). In this way, geodesy was elevated to a separate subject for the first time and an independent Geodetic Institute was set up in the new building at Antonsplatz, constructed in 1846. For a while, this new building helped alleviate, at least to some extent, the permanent shortage of space in the former Brühl pavilion and also in the former armory building at the Jüdenhof, which since 1833 had served as the second location of the Technical School. Working conditions for students and teachers were improved, too. After Nagel, a noted expert in geodesy, had taken up his post, he was able to modernize and expand the stock of instruments comprehensively during his more than 40-year term in office. At his instigation, one of the most significant instruments in today’s Collection − the Repsold Universal Instrument − was acquired for the campaigns of the Central European Arc Measurement and the Royal Saxon Triangulation. Archival records from the Saxon State Archives (SächsStA) show that about 200 to 250 thalers were allocated for the procurement of a “geodetic apparatus” in 1859. After plans for using the universal instrument had been The Collection of Astronomic-Geodetic Instruments LUTZ GRAEFE Large universal instrument by Pistor & Martins (1862) It is one of the most important exhibits in the Collection. Nagel used it for the Central European Arc Measurement, in addition to the Repsold Instrument. * Due to the renovation of the Beyer Building, the observatory is expected to be accessible again in 2024.
24 The Collection of Astronomic-Geodetic Instruments approved and the Repsold Company in Hamburg had been commissioned for its manufacture, the costs in 1861 amounted to the impressive sum of 1,000 Reichstaler (SächsStA 15096 and 15098). Despite the high purchase price, the Directorate of the Polytechnical School was authorized by the Ministry of the Interior on September 10, 1861, to acquire this large instrument. Nagel was one of three Saxon commissioners for the large-scale arc measurement campaign, alongside professors Julius Weisbach (Freiberg) and Carl Christian Bruhns (Leipzig). Their task was to create for the Kingdom of Saxony a trigonometric network of the first order, consisting of a total of 36 measuring points (within the Central European Arc Measurement). This network was further consolidated by means of an additional 122 measuring points of second order. Nagel was responsible for the trigonometric survey and for placing survey markers at the measuring points. Quite a few of “Nagel’s pillars”, created under his direction, still exist today and are monuments to Saxony’s surveying history. These pillars were used to position the instruments during the measuring process. Nagel’s survey pillars on the Borsberg, Lilienstein, Gohlig and Wilisch mountains are representative examples in the area around Dresden. In 1875, in the midst of Nagel’s intensive work on the land survey, the Polytechnic − as it was then called − moved into the new building on what was at that time Bismarckplatz, roughly on the site of today’s University of Applied Sciences. The new premises did justice to the increased number of students while also providing improved and more up-to-date accommodation for the Geodetic Institute. The rooms for the assistants and the storage rooms for the geodetic collections were situated in the west section of the building on the second floor (facing today’s Fritz-Löffler-Straße), with the geodesy lecture hall and, next to it, Professor Nagel’s office occupying the northwestern corner of the building. It was also possible to include observation pillars for geodetic measurement exercises on the roof of the southern wing of the building. In total, there were seven pillars on the southern roof area, the middle one of which was equipped with a small rotatable dome. This was where the students’ geodetic and astronomical measurement exercises took place. For almost four decades, the polytechnic building near the main railway station, which was built at a later date, became the seat of the Geodetic Institute. Even if the new building could not entirely fulfill all the By decree of the Royal High Minister of the Interior of 10th September, 1861, the most respectfully signed Directorate was authorized to order a large theodolite, universal instrument, to carry out major trigonometric measurements, with the remark that the total cost should be indicated when the time comes. The instrument mentioned has been commissioned by Prof. Nagel from the famous A. u. G. Repsold Company in Hamburg and has arrived here in good condition. From a letter by Julius Ambrosius Hülsse, Director of the Polytechnical School, to the Ministry of the Interior (SächsStA 15100, p. 34). On the platform of the roof of the rear transversal building, a number of strong pedestals for geodetic purposes have been built, and in the middle of the platform (above one of the pedestals) a small astronomical observatory with a rotating housing. Festschrift 1875 “Lohrmann observatory” in the tower of the Beyer Building View of the exhibition, today presenting a cross-section of the most important exhibits of the Collection. As part of a guided tour, visitors can also view the large refracting telescope in the dome.
25 needs of a geodetic teaching institution, it was a significant improvement compared to the old location at Antonsplatz. In 1888, in addition to his duties as a professor, Nagel was also entrusted with running the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in the Zwinger, a dual responsibility that had already been shouldered by Lohrmann and that was to continue until the end of the 1930s. After a busy working life, he retired in 1893. His activities in land surveying and the firm establishment of geodesy in the technical sciences remain Nagel’s most outstanding achievements. In 1890, still during Nagel’s tenure, the Polytechnic was granted the status of a Technical College. Space in the building at Bismarckplatz soon became too confined for the constantly developing and growing institution. It was then, at the beginning of the 20th century, that the first new buildings were erected on the present campus area in Dresden’s Südvorstadt. In 1913, during the tenure of Nagel’s successor, Professor Bernhard Pattenhausen, the Geodetic Institute moved into new, more modern premises on the second floor of the newly-erected civil engineering building, today’s Beyer Building. This meant that the building − designed by architect Martin Dülfer − with its distinctive 40 meter-high observatory tower also became the new home of the instrument collection. Facing in the direction of today’s Fritz-Foerster-Platz, room 155 was earmarked as the geodesy collection room. Here, the valuable instruments were kept in purpose-built display cabinets, three of which have been preserved in their original condition to this day. The collection room also had direct access to the neighboring lecture theatre (room 154), where geodesy lectures were held at the time (Pattenhausen 1914). The connecting door still exists today, although it is no longer in use. The former collection site, room 155, is now divided into several small rooms that are used as offices. Unfortunately, the new institute building remained unfinished. An entire stage of construction along Bergstraße was not completed. Also, the location of the building in the middle of a built-up area constituted only a compromise solution as far as astronomical and geodetic observations were concerned. Pattenhausen’s wish for an institute building on the ridge to the south of the campus was not granted. Nevertheless, the new premises again meant a considerable improvement in working conditions and provided modern and spacious accommodation for the instrument collection. A number of modern instruments Wilhelm Gotthelf Lohrmann (1796 – 1840), painting by Johann Carl Rößler, around 1830 (TUD Art Collection) The geodesist and astronomer was co-founder and first head of the Technical School and senior inspector of the Mathematisch Physikalischer Salon. Christian August Nagel (1821–1903) at the Repsold Universal Instrument; painting by an unknown artist, undated (private collection) Nagel worked at the Geodetic Institute for more than four decades and once and for all developed geodesy into a modern engineering science.
47 MARINA LIENERT · CARIS-PETRA HEIDEL The Medical-Historical Collection The origins of the Collection Exhibits collected by the Duke of Weissenfels provided the basic stock for a larger collection of the Collegium Medico-Chirurgicum in Dresden. This was the first Saxon school of surgery, opening in 1748. It was succeeded by the Provisional Teaching Institute of Medicine and Surgery (1814/15) and the Surgical-Medical Academy (1815 to 1864). These institutions also made use of comprehensive collections in their training of military doctors, surgeons and medical practitioners. Unfortunately, none of these exhibits made it into the possession of the indirect successor institution, the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus”, founded 90 years after the Surgical-Medical Academy closed. However, a physician interested in medical history began acquiring new objects for teaching purposes. Heinrich Fritz, head of the X-ray and Radium Institute of the Dresden-Johannstadt Hospital from 1948, then Professor of Radiology and Radiotherapeutics at the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus” and Director of the Radiology Clinic, collected more than 20 different X-ray tubes, documenting the development of the relatively new discipline. They were on display in a purpose-built cabinet and were used in the training of medical students and medical technical assistants. Nevertheless, there seem to have been no systematic efforts at the new institution to collect material witnesses to medical history, despite the efforts of Heinz Egon Kleine-Natrop, a proven expert and promoter of Dresden’s medical history at the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus”. Kleine-Natrop was the first Director of the Dermatological Clinic and full Professor of Dermatology from 1957. This lack of system when it came to acquiring historical exhibits was perhaps due to the proximity of two important institutions, both of which had been founded before World War I and already owned extensive medical history collections: the Karl Sudhoff Institute for the History of Medicine and the Natural Sciences in Leipzig and the “Deutsches Hygiene-Museum” in Dresden. In 1978, the introduction of history of medicine as a compulsory subject at all medical higher education institutions in the GDR led to the establishment of an independent department for the history of medicine at the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus”, headed by Günter Heidel. Heidel was a lecturer who had written his habilitation on the subject, and when the department was elevated to the status of Institute in 1990, he became the first Chair of the History of Medicine at the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus”. Establishing this discipline in teaching and research was the primary goal of the Chair. It explains why simultaneously developing a medical history collection of substance was neither planned nor possible, due to a lack of staff and funding. However, as far as the limited means allowed, material witnesses relevant to medical history were acquired second-hand, a practice that continues to this day. Treadle drill and dentist’s chair, circa 1890 The treadle drill was supposedly used by a dentist in Dresden as late as the 1960s. In 1746, Count von Hennike took possession of the Duchy of Weißenfels in the name of the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. He found several anatomical specimens in the duke’s collections and sent them to Dresden to be used in training surgeons. Seiler 1820, p. 439–440 Although there are more glorious causes for the foundation of high schools and universities than secular need, there can hardly be a more cogent, let alone a more humane one for a medical school than that its establishment is necessary in the strict sense of the word. Kleine-Natrop 1964, p. X
48 The Medical-Historical Collection 2010 saw the purchase of a very special item: a coffee cup that must have been made around 1830 to 1840. The outside is decorated with a rectangular cartouche framed in strict classicist style. It shows a finely painted polychrome view of the Royal Surgical-Medical Academy in Dresden, based on a print by Johann Friedrich Schröter. The piece was produced as a souvenir and depicts the Surgical-Medical Academy as a tourist attraction, lending the item its unique value. This image was certainly not chosen solely for the architectural quality of the “Kurländer Palais” and “Oberzeugwärterhaus”. After all, Dresden had an abundance of buildings that were equally worth depicting. It was due to the Academy being unique in Saxony and offering an education of high renown that made it a place of interest in Dresden. Systematic collecting activities regarding the history of the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus” and Dresden’s medical history Extensive renovation and reconstruction measures were undertaken after German reunification, culminating in the integration of the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus” into TUD Dresden University of Technology as the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus in 1993. Back then, cellars and attics of the clinics and institutes still harbored a plethora of technological devices from medicine and nursing, along with instruments and furniture from bygone decades, which were now to be discarded. The Institute for the History of Medicine was asked if it could store these objects in its building. The staff of the Institute − headed from 1992 by Albrecht Scholz, initially on a provisional basis and then as holder of the Chair of the History of Medicine from 1996 to 2005 − assumed responsibility for safeguarding and cataloguing these artefacts. Repeatedly, they appealed to the clinics and institutes to offer these witnesses to medical and technical development and to standards of the GDR era to their Institute before disposing of them. The collecting activities became more systematic and resulted in an inventory explicitly designed as a medical history collection that documents and illustrates the history of the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus” and its preceding institutions. From 2000 to 2018, Peter Schneider supervised the Collection with great dedication and wide-ranging expertise. From 2019 to 2021, Jörg W. Schneider devoted himself to the comprehensive tasks involved in maintaining, scientifically recording and exhibiting the historical objects. Coffee cup with a view of the Royal Surgical-Medical Academy in Dresden, circa 1830 to 1840 The hand-painted porcelain cup was made as a precious souvenir and highlights the Surgical-Medical Academy as a tourist attraction in Dresden.
49 The Medical-Historical Collection In 2000, the Collection comprised some 300 objects. 2001 to 2004 was a particularly valuable period, with the Institute accepting numerous medical devices and equipment, including hospital furnishings from the University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine. For example, the Surgical Clinic handed over a total of 219 objects of all kinds: rib shears, vascular staplers, abdominal wall holders and intestinal clamps. Technical devices and instruments for medical diagnostics and therapy, specifically developed at the Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus”, are an exclusive feature and the centerpiece of the collection. As evidence of the innovative research in the different specialist fields of medicine and its application in high-quality medical care, these objects allow a historical evaluation and illustration of the achievements of the Dresden institution. With this in mind, it has been possible to garner objects from medical technology that had been developed primarily during research into cryomedicine, endoscopy, electrotherapy, vascular surgery, endoprosthetics (the artificial replacement of joints) and implant medicine. What is more, the Institute now incorporated items donated by private individuals, mostly physicians or their heirs, into the collection. In this way, the inventory was not only supplemented with instruments and devices from private practices, but specifically with objects from former polyclinics run by East Germany’s state-owned firms with a focus on the field of occupational medicine. In 2002 and 2003 alone, some 220 individual items were donated. Of particular value are complete sets of instruments and devices. These include a set from the estate of the late Oschatz physician Leopold Wilhelm Lohmann, which was donated to the Institute in 2006. A total of 48 instruments and other objects, such as the examination case, provide insights into the everyday life of a general practitioner − who also made house calls in the surrounding villages − in the first half of the 20th century. Most of the objects originate from the time before World War I, with only a few dating back to around 1930. Diagnostic instruments such as a pocket set for laryngeal examinations or an electric hand-held ophthalmoscope are among the items, as are a chloroform anaesthesia mask, a metal bone saw, obstetrical forceps, and universal dental forceps. In 2003, the niece of Kurt Warnekros, Director of the Dresden State Women’s Clinic from 1925 to 1949, transferred ownership of her uncle’s written documents to the Institute. She also handed over the medical bag used by Warnekros when he was called to consultations, operations and deliveries in France, Sweden, Italy, Greece and Romania, or within Germany. Total hip joint prosthesis (two-piece, with press fitting) with transport case, circa. 1980 This prosthesis represented an early variant of hip joint replacement. Apparatus for cryotherapy in dermatology It was developed by the Dermatological Clinic of the Dresden Medical Academy in the 1980s and was also used there.
69 The Collection of Mathematical Models DANIEL LORDICK The ambiguous concept of what constitutes a mathematical model When scientists today talk of a mathematical model, they usually do not refer to objects such as those presented in this Collection, but to a formalized description − employing mathematical means − of a sub-problem from the world we experience. The more precisely an event is “modeled,” the better it can be predicted. Accurate weather forecasts, analyses of financial markets and the characterization of complicated processes from physics, chemistry and biology become possible when the power of computers is harnessed. Despite these obvious successes in almost all areas of life, despite their key role in advanced technology, and despite many attempts at mediation, mathematicians and the rest of society remain thoroughly divided: Their formalistic science is often regarded as incomprehensible and remote, not least because of its highly condensed language. By way of contrast, the Collection of Mathematical Models offers a distinctly sensual treasure, making the inner beauty and elegance of formulae and abstract structures tangible even to the layperson. These material models are also the actual work of mathematicians and serve as a means of communicating mathematical content, alongside formulae, texts and graphics. In the recent past, the immediate persuasive power of the material models in conveying knowledge has been the starting point for numerous projects that have taken the Dresden Collection to new heights beyond the boundaries of mathematics. The models have been on display in various exhibitions, with some now on loan to Saxon museums; they serve as the subject matter of artistic works and, last but not least, have been researched in a pilot project of the German Research Foundation (DFG). At the same time, however, the aesthetic appeal of the objects camouflages the remarkable conflicts that have contributed to the very eventful history of the Collection during its inner-mathematical push and pull between reference to reality and abstraction. Whereas Galileo Galilei still proclaimed that the universe was written in the language of mathematics, Albert Einstein already viewed the interplay between science and reality in a much more differentiated way. Even the title of the oldest specialist journal still in publication, the “Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik”, founded in 1826, describes the polarity according to which pure mathematics is regarded as belonging to the humanities, while everything that emerges from this ivory tower and moves towards application and “Anschauung” is implicitly devalued and classified as “impure”. So, it may seem like a contradiction that the models of the 19th century largely originate from pure mathematics. An obvious limitation of material models consists in their inevitable attachment to the three-dimensional visual space. Small wonder, then, that material models are rather insignificant for current mathematical research, dealing as it does with higher-dimensional structures. As a direct form of depiction, objects are suitable only for a small section of matheAs far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. Albert Einstein in his lecture on “Geometry and Experience” (1921) Objects from the Collection of Mathematical Models.
70 The Collection of Mathematical Models matical topics, in particular for those related to engineering geometry. Here, they are still popular as didactic and visual aids, which explains the decision to house the Collection at the Institute of Geometry. Models in the early days of the Technical School in Dresden The original collection of the Technical College of Dresden and the related documents were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in February 1945. As a consequence, we have little information about its early history. Since World War II, various actors have gradually rebuilt today’s collection, partly collating it from bequests. This explains its somewhat “patchy” nature compared to other universities, such as Göttingen, Tokyo or Boston, while at the same time it contains numerous recent models. Despite the devastating caesura of 1945, some of the Dresden Collection’s unique specimens of historic value from the 19th century have been preserved. The models therefore have a particular significance for the history of science that goes well beyond their function as a collection of teaching aids. When evaluating the pertinence of mathematical models in the early days of the Technical School in Dresden, the first thing to consider are its antecedents. The most prominent of these was the École Polytechnique in Paris, founded in 1794, which served as a prototype for the polytechnic schools in Germany. In Paris, one of the founding fathers was Gaspard Monge, whose groundbreaking work Géométrie descriptive standardized the use of engineering drawing in the technical subjects. This explains why scientifically correct illustration based on geometry – known as descriptive geometry – has been a core element of teaching in Dresden from the very beginning. The success of the Technical School in Dresden resulted from the combination of scientific mechanical engineering based on the French model with the English principle of practical trial. Inspired by the Berlin pioneer Christian Beuth, models and English machines were procured that served as templates for replicas. These were also used for the purposes of modeling as well as machine and freehand drawing. The existence of purely mathematical models, however, cannot be verified for the early years. It is noteworthy, though, that Wilhelm Gotthelf Lohrmann, the first head of the Technical School, was also chief inspector of the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in the Zwinger. In this respect, there is a strong personal connection between the first location of the School, a pavilion on the Brühl Terrace, to a collection of mathematical instruments that is unique worldwide. Arriving in Dresden in early 1849, the first mathematical models were a constituent of descriptive geometry and came from the French mathematician Théodore Olivier, who was a Movable model of a hyperbolic paraboloid Presumably made around 1849 under the guidance of Théodore Olivier in Paris. Brass and threads
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