Provenance, Science & Profit: Natural History Museums and the Global Network of the Umlauff Natural History Trading House
In addition to private and institutional collectors, natural history traders have historically been important sources of specimens and information for natural history museums in the past. They have been shown to have contributed to the development of historical collections that still form the basis of exhibitions and research activities in natural history museums today. However, the history and significance of the natural history traders is still little known and researched. One such naturalia trader with worldwide trading partners was the long-established Hamburg company of the J. F. G. Umlauff family. Founded in the mid 19th century, Umlauff supplied both natural history and ethnographic museums with zoological and ethnographic objects from all over the world for almost 100 years. Umlauff's market position and availability of material was enhanced by family ties to the Hanseatic family business of Carl Hagenbeck, founder of the Hamburg Zoological Gardens, among others.
The aim of the workshop is to discuss the significance of the Umlauff family's natural history trade for the development of natural history collections, especially in German museums. To this end, the trading networks of the Umlauff natural history firm and its worldwide trading partners will be reconstructed and visualized. Which institutions benefited from Umlauff's trading activities on a national and international level? Which procurement channels and appropriation practices of the various objects can be traced, especially with a focus on collections from colonial contexts? These questions are intended to outline an interdisciplinary field of research that sheds light on the intertwining of economic, political, and scientific interests in a central phase of natural history museums.
Workshop programme
A detailed workshop programme is in preparation and will be shared here.
Confirmed speakers:
- Prof. Rainer F. Buschmann, California State University Channel Islands, USA
- Dr. Richard Tsogang Fossi, Technical University Berlin, Germany
- Dr. André Koch, Museum Koenig Bonn, Germany
- Hanna Kressig M.A., Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany
- PD Dr. Britta Lange, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
- Jana C. Reimer M.A., MARKK Museum am Rothenbaum Hamburg, Germany
- Dr. Hilke Thode-Arora, Museum Fünf Kontinente München, Germany
- Prof. Simon Ville, University of Wollongong, Australia