Museum of Natural History and Prehistory

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The Leopold-Dank-Stift, the seat of the museum since 1927

The Museum of Natural History and Prehistory is an urban natural history and archaeological museum in Dessau-Roßlau . It was founded in 1927 and houses collections on archeology, paleontology , geology , botany and zoology .

history

As early as 1875, a natural history and prehistoric collection was set up at Großkühnau Castle near Dessau , which was created through the merger of the ducal collections in Dessau and Roßlau . The Köthen collection was added in 1878 . Since this collection could no longer be adequately cared for after 1900, it was transferred to the Zerbst Castle Museum in 1919 , where it was almost completely destroyed in an air raid in 1945 .

In 1901 a municipal archaeological collection was founded, which was initially housed in the new town hall. It was extensively expanded in 1907 through the purchase of Hans Seelmann's private collection and through excavations by the Anhalt History Association , which mainly took place between 1908 and 1911. At that time the collection became part of a short-lived local history museum, but was split up again in 1919. While large parts of this collection were also transferred to Zerbst, the archaeological, geological and scientific holdings remained in Dessau. They were initially kept at Johannisstraße 13 and formed the basis of the Museum of Natural History and Prehistory, which was founded and opened in 1927. The museum was housed in the Leopold-Dank-Stift at Askanische Straße 32, which was built between 1746 and 1750, where it is still located today. The building had previously housed the Anhaltische Kunsthalle.

The first director of the museum was Hans Seelmann, who was dismissed in 1936 due to his Jewish descent. The management of the prehistoric collection was entrusted to Köthen-based Walter Götze , who also looked after the local collection. Parts of the collection were relocated during the Second World War. Nevertheless, there were considerable losses when the museum building was hit in an air raid on March 7, 1945 and burned out completely.

After the reconstruction, an exhibition could be presented again as early as 1948. In the same year Alfred Hinsche took over the management of the museum. Further excavations from the 1950s onwards made it possible to further increase the museum's holdings. In 1960 a new permanent exhibition was opened. The museum had to temporarily close in 1992 due to renovation work on the building. In 1998 it reopened.

The museum is currently threatened with closure. After both director Ernst Görgner and the head of the prehistoric collection Hans-Peter Hinze retired in 2018 , both positions have not yet been filled. A cultural development plan published in March 2019 by the city of Dessau-Roßlau provides for the extract from the Leopold-Dank-Stift without a conclusive concept for the future presentation of the collection.

Exhibitions

The current permanent exhibition is divided into six areas:

  • "Treasures from the Underground" is dedicated to prehistoric times with a focus on the Pleistocene and shows, among other things, reconstructions of a coal forest and ice age megafauna .
  • “Human traces - ice age hunters, first farmers and bronze casters” shows the human prehistory from the ice age to the neolithic to the bronze age using reconstructions and archaeological finds .
  • "The Dessau region from the Germanic era to the founding of the city" shows the regional history from the Iron Age to the 13th century using archaeological finds .
  • Another area is the mineral collection.
  • “A walk through the history of the earth” is housed in the tower and shows fossils from primeval times to the Pleistocene on six floors.
  • "Fascination of nature - from anemone to little bittern" shows the habitats of the biosphere reserve "Middle Elbe" biosphere reserve in several dioramas.

The museum has a branch at Törtener Straße 44.

Publications

Magazines

  • Scientific contributions from the Dessau Museum. (since 1978)
  • Stratum. Archeology in the administrative region of Dessau. (1992–1997)

Rows

  • Series of publications by the Museum of Natural History and Prehistory Dessau. (since 1963)
  • Scientific contributions from the Dessau Museum. Special issue (1980–1997)

literature

  • Hans-Peter Hinze: The Prehistory Collection at the Museum of Natural History and Prehistory Dessau. In: Archeology in Saxony-Anhalt. NF Volume 2, 2004, pp. 277-282.
  • Museum Association of Saxony-Anhalt e. V. (Hrsg.): Museums and collections in Saxony-Anhalt. 3. Edition. Edition RK, Dessau 2001, ISBN 3-934388-11-6 , pp. 40-41.

Web links

Commons : Museum of Natural History and Prehistory (Dessau)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heidi Thiemann: Concern about the Natural History Museum Critics fear closure - a chance for Elbeneum? In: mz-web.de. December 8, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ Thomas Steinberg: Without a plan? 250 signatures against the closure of the natural history museum. In: mz-web.de. April 15, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2019.

Coordinates: 51 ° 49 ′ 50 "  N , 12 ° 14 ′ 32.7"  E