The research project ‘Berlin's Australian Archive: Addressing the Colonial Legacies of Natural History’ examined the historical holdings of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin between 2023 and 2025. A particular focus was on reconstructing the interaction between German naturalists, in particular Wilhelm von Blandowski and Gerhard Krefft, and Indigenous experts in Australia in the years 1856-57. These Indigenous knowledge holders played a central role in the research work by guiding, collecting and trading with the naturalists.
An essential part of this project was the collaboration with the Museum für Naturkunde's Transcription Workshop, a citizen science project that ran from 2019-2025 and is integrated into the Museum's future plan in cooperation with the Historical Image and Document Collection, the Centre for Humanities of Nature and the Collection Development and Access project. Around 40 volunteer participants dedicated themselves to transcribing historical documents. They worked in a digitally organised environment and used the Transkribus tool to make the old Sütterlin and Kurrent manuscripts accessible.
Publication on Transkribus Sites
Transkribus Sites opens up the possibility of publishing fully transcribed documents and the associated scans at a low threshold and breaking new ground in digital accessibility. Interested parties can view the historical correspondence and gain an impression of the written records from the 19th century.
With this publication, the Berlin's Australian Archive project is making an important contribution to the reappraisal of colonial scientific history and the promotion of open scientific exchange.
Further information and access to the transcripts can be found here.
The project is funded by the German Lost Art Foundation (Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste).
Picture: Historical letter, transcription
Australian Museum. Sydney. August 11 1868
Lieber Herr Professor, Dank für Ihren Brief vom 20st Mai und die darin adrisirten Flederthiere die hier wohlbehalten eingetroffen sind. -
Ich weiß den Werth der selben vollständig zu würdigen und schicke Ihnen nun einen männlichen + weiblichen Heterodontus leider weiß ich nicht ob es ein trächtiges Exemplar ist da ich davon ca 20 Stück in Blechbüchsen einge löthet besitze + solche nicht gut wieder öffnen kann ich glaube indessen daß es ein trächtiges Weibchen ist.
Die Fische sind im October + November gefangen und ich kann um die Zeit sehr viele