Beneath the Skin and Back to Life. A Conceptual Visit to the Berlin Museum of Medical History

The Berlin Museum of Medical History is a university museum located on the premises of the renowned Berlin clinic called Charité. Built and founded by the eminent German pathologist Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) as a so called Pathological Museum in 1899 its primary goal was to visualize an inventory of all human diseases by the arrangement of over 23.000 dry and wet specimens on 2.000 m². Aft er its reopening under its current name in 1998, it was re-conceptualized as a venue to address core developments in the history of medicine. In my talk I will off er a virtual visit to and through the Berlin Museum of Medical History at the Charité outlining the status, running, and topographical context of this institution, as well as the basic ideas for the development and realization of its permanent presentation opened in late 2007 and the spectrum of temporary exhibitions which shape the profi le of the museum in the public. The discussion might also address important issues of an intensive debate on the
use of university collections for research in Germany.