Origins and the University Museum (up to 1889)

From the Kunstkammer to the University Collection

Many objects from the early modern art chamber are now held in the collections of the Berlin State Museums, Humboldt University of Berlin and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Other objects are now known only from historical sources. The project ‘The Window to Nature and Art’ has systematically catalogued these sources. A virtual research environment reconstructs the collections digitally for the first time and reveals the close interconnections between the Kunstkammer, the university and the museums.

The founding of the university and the establishment of the three natural history museums and institutions

In 1809, King Frederick William III founded the University of Berlin at the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt. Along with the university, three natural history museums were established in the Prince Heinrich Palace on Unter den Linden:

• the Anatomical-Zootomical Museum – an educational and research collection focused exclusively on medicine, in which anatomical and comparative anatomical specimens were used for teaching purposes
• the Zoological Museum – a systematic and taxonomic collection of animals, which served to study biodiversity and the relationships between species
• the Mineralogical Museum – a collection of minerals, rocks and ores; palaeontological objects were also preserved here, as palaeontology was still part of mineralogy and geology at that time

These institutions took over collections from the Kunstkammer, the Mining Academy, the Academy of Sciences and from private collections. Through purchases, donations and collection and research expeditions, the holdings grew rapidly. They included, amongst other things, Alexander von Humboldt’s natural history collections from America, Russia and from his time as a mining official.

The collection is bursting at the seams

The collections quickly spread throughout the university building – by 1880, natural history collections occupied around two-thirds of the building. This expansion had led to other subjects being squeezed out. Teaching was virtually impossible. An urgent appeal was drafted. In 1869, a stuffed walrus attracted particular attention: the university rector, Ernst Kummer, was on his way to the auditorium but could not get past a walrus. It was blocking the passageway in front of the auditorium and had to be removed within 24 hours. In the aftermath, Kummer exerted massive pressure to have a collection building constructed.  

The ongoing shortage of space led to the decision in 1874 to construct a museum building for the three natural history collections. The site chosen was the grounds of the former Royal Iron Foundry on Invalidenstraße. The planning lasted until construction began in 1883. By this time, the collection already included a key scientific specimen: the Archaeopteryx, a central piece of evidence in evolutionary research.