Ditsong National Museum of Natural History

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View of the museum with Paul Kruger Street
Employee of the Transvaal Museum 1909

The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (German about: "Kulturelles Erbe: Nationales Naturhistorisches Museum" after setso ( Sesotho , "culture", ditso as plural)) is a museum in the South African capital Pretoria . It is known for its collection of human fossils from the Pliocene and Pleistocene .

history

On December 1, 1892 , the State Museum was founded in the Ou Raadsaal , the parliament building of what was then the South African Republic . It was later known as the Transvaal Museum called and received in 1910 a private, prestigious building in the Paul Kruger Street opposite the Town Hall of the Metropolitan Municipality of Tshwane .

In 1999, the museum was merged with the Pretoria National Cultural History Museum and the South African Museum of Military History in Johannesburg as the Northern Flagship (about: "Northern Flagship"). In April 2010, the name was changed to Ditsong National Museum of National History . Eight museums are grouped under the name Ditsong , including seven museums in Pretoria:

  • National Museum of Natural History
  • National Museum of Cultural History
  • National Museum of Military History
  • Pioneer Museum
  • Sammy Marks Museum
  • Tswaing Meteorite Crater
  • Kruger Museum
  • William Prinsloo Agricultural Museum

The staff included John Hewitt (1880–1961) and Elisabeth Vrba (* 1942). From 1990 to 2009 John Francis Thackeray worked at the museum, most recently as director.

Museum building

The elongated, neoclassical building with an axially symmetrical facade is made of sandstone . To the left and right of the raised portal there are columns along the entire front. Similar style annexes have been added on both sides. On the back there are surfaces covered by barrel roofs made of glass. A green area in front of the house is also part of the museum.

Collection and activities

Mrs. Ples
Prehistoric animal skeletons in front of the museum

The museum shows important finds of hominids from the excavation sites Sterkfontein , Swartkrans and Kromdraai , which are known as the cradle of humanity . This includes the skull of Mrs. Ples , the best preserved skull of an Australopithecus africanus .

Other exhibits include fossilized skeletons of therapsids and dinosaurs as well as numerous other animal specimens, including many invertebrates .

Library and Activities

The museum has a library that specializes in zoology, paleontology, and the history of wildlife in southern Africa .

It publishes the Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History and Monographs of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History .

The museum offers numerous museum educational activities, for example for schoolchildren.

Web links

Commons : Ditsong National Museum of Natural History  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Portrait at artefacts.co.za (English), accessed on August 30, 2015
  2. ^ Website of the museum association (English), accessed on August 31, 2015
  3. ↑ a b website of the museum ( Memento of September 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  4. ↑ Collection of the Museum ( Memento of November 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  5. ↑ Library of the Museum ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

Coordinates: 25 ° 45 ′ 11.2 "  S , 28 ° 11 ′ 21.6"  O