Meckel's collection

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The Meckel collection is a collection of anatomical specimens from the Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg .

history

The actual basis of the collection is the private collection of the Meckel family of anatomists. The Berlin anatomist Johann Friedrich Meckel (the elder, 1714–1774) made anatomical preparations, including corrosion preparations and mercury as well as wax injection preparations and the preparation of a situs inversus . His son Philipp Friedrich Theodor Meckel (1756–1803) brought these preparations to Halle in 1779, where he endeavored to expand the collection. In this phase, the collection, founded on the obstetric activities of Meckel, was expanded to include specimens of malformations and embryos in various stages of development. Meckel decreed that his own body should be dissected after his death and that his skeleton should be kept assembled. It is shown to this day together with the skulls of his son and two grandchildren in an open cupboard, while other parts of his body were buried in the city cemetery.

In 1799, Philipp Meckel bought the “Riesenhaus” on Großer Berlin (today Große Brauhausstrasse 16), in the back of which the collection was housed. According to a list of Justus Christian Loder (1753–1832), Meckel's successor, the collection after Philipp Meckel's death comprised 3,476 specimens.

Johann Friedrich Meckel the Younger (1781–1833), the founder of modern teratology, became an associate professor in Halle (Saale) in 1804 , and in 1808 he became a full professor. He expanded Meckel's private collection to around 12,000 specimens around 1830, divided into an anatomical, a pathological and a comparative anatomical part. At the same time, the university tried to build up its own anatomical collection, which, in terms of its size, did not come close to that of Meckel's collection. As a result of the unification of the universities of Halle and Wittenberg in 1817, exhibits from Wittenberg also found their way into this university's own collection.

After Meckel's death, his widow Friederika Meckel sold the anatomy family's collection in 1836 for 25,000 thalers to the University of Halle. In 1841 the collection was moved to the Neue Residenz , which had already housed other parts of the medical faculty.

Today's collection

Today's collection emerged primarily from the pathological-anatomical part of the Meckel collection and is kept in the attic of the Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology in Grosse Steinstrasse. In 2007 a support association for the preservation, use and scientific monitoring of the collection was founded. The collection is jointly managed by the professors of anatomy Heike Kielstein and Rüdiger Schultka .

literature

Monographs
  • Rüdiger Schultka, Luminita Göbbel: The Hallesche anatomy and its collections. Europa-Lehrmittel, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8085-6830-9 .
  • Rüdiger Schultka, Josef N. Neumann (eds.) With the collaboration of Susanne Weidemann: Anatomy and Anatomical Collections in the 18th Century on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birthday of Philipp Friedrich Theodor Meckel (1755–1803). LIT Verlag, 2007, ISBN 3-8258-9755-9 .
Illustrated books
  • Rüdiger Schultka (author), János Stekovics (photographer): The most excellent cabinet - the Meckel collections in Halle (Saale): history, composition and selected specimens of the anatomical teaching and research collections. Stekovics, 2012, ISBN 978-3-89923-301-8 .
University publications
Book contributions
  • Eckart Roloff and Karin Henke-Wendt: "A treasure slumbering in the city on the Saale ..." (Meckel's collections) In: Visit your doctor or pharmacist. A tour through Germany's museums for medicine and pharmacy. S. Hirzel, 2015, ISBN 978-3-7776-2510-2 .

Web links