"Theatre of Nature and Art - Treasure-trove of Knowledge"

A new exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin
December, 10 2000 until March, 4 2001 

http://www2.hu-berlin.de/hzk/theatrum/


The Humboldt University can boast a rare treasure, namely a number of unique
collections preserved there. Over one hundred separate collections, some of
which date from the sixteenth century, spanning all conceivable disciplines
reflect the major role played by Berlin, the "city of knowledge", in the
development of modern academic disciplines. 

Marble gods in the basement
Yet even today many of these treasures languish in obscurity. In the past
many of the collections were virtually inaccessible, particularly as they
were scattered across the whole university and had sometimes even been
forgotten. Who ever heard of the Sound Archive? Does anyone remember the
long-vanished Museum of Oceanography? Other collections are now housed in
the Museum of Natural Sciences or with the collections of the Botanical
Garden, now under the aegis of the Free University. The whole spectrum of
collections will be displayed in this exhibition for the first time,
retrieving many lost treasures from dusty oblivion. 

A whale taken for a water snake
The 1,200 or so spectacular and intriguing objects from all spheres of
scientific study are not just historically significant but also visually
striking. They bear witness to significant developments, great successes and
monumental errors in the cultural history of knowledge. The exhibition casts
its net wide and encompasses such diverse exhibits as bizarre specimens from
Rudolf Virchow's Museum of Pathology to a gallery of portrait busts of
scholars from Berlin, a horrifyingly realistic wax model of a plague bubo
and a plaster cast of Paeonius' Nike. Not to mention the skeleton of an
archaoecete, a primeval whale, which the Prussian king bought in the belief
that it was a water snake and the skeleton of a "Long Fellow" from the
Giant's Guard of the "Soldier King", Friederich Wilhelm I. 

Rudolf Virchow in Troy
The history of scientific endeavour is shaped by great individuals. An
incredible number of famous names have done research at this university in
Berlin. Closer examination reveals that almost all of them did not confine
their work to just one narrow discipline. Take for example pathologist
Rudolf Virchow. Alongside his involvement in politics, he also found time to
help Schliemann with the excavations in Troy. He and many other academics
were great collectors and have thus left a legacy that testifies to their
wide-ranging interests. 

Botanist and poet rolled into one
Natural sciences, medicine and the fine arts - individual disciplines and
subjects are becoming increasingly specialised. That makes it all the more
important to remember that great achievements are born of symbioses. Imagine
an anatomical bronze model without the hand of the artist that shaped it.
And wouldn't it be fair to describe Wiedehopf or Grindwal's virtuoso
watercolours from the folio collection, "Theatrum naturae", as scientific
documents? Does anyone know that the famous poet, Adelbert von Chamisso, was
a botanist by profession and curator of the Botanical Garden? 

Theatre of nature and art
The diverse objects from a multitude of different areas reveal anew the
connections linking various disciplines and research projects. As early as
1700, Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz referred to a "Theatrum naturae et artis" in
this context. He felt that scientific and fine arts exhibits should be
displayed side by side to highlight both foundation stones of culture, a
vision that fits remarkably well with contemporary ideas.