The Collections in Detail

Culture Collection of Algae
algenThe University of Göttingen's Culture Collection of Algae (international acronym SAG) is one of the oldest and largest culture collections of microalgae and cyanobacteria in the world. As a biological resource centre it serves the scientific, biotechnological and educational communities worldwide. more...





Anthropological Collections
anthroThe Department of Historical Anthropology and Human Ecology (Bürgerstr. 50) of the Institute of Zoology and Anthropology has three extensive collections that are accessible for study purposes on request through Dr Birgit Großkopf (please register your study interest). more...









Beckmann collection
02140One of Göttingen University's oldest collections is the Beckmann Collection with its collection of models. Of its original set of items, 25 are still present today. Mathematicians such as Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (1719?1800) took charge of this collection, which, augmented and maintained by craftsmen in the employ of the university, was used and admired by numerous professors, students and visitors. Until well into the 20th century, models were regarded as outstanding vehicles for the communication of knowledge. more...









Collections of the Archaeological Institute: The Cast Collection of Antique Sculptures
GipsabgüsseThe Cast Collection of Antique Sculptures of Göttingen University's Archaeological Institute is one of Germany's oldest and most extensive collections of plaster casts true to the original ancient sculptures. It unites nearly 2,000 works from over 150 collections worldwide. more...








Collections of the Archaeological Institute: Coin Collection
Münzsammlung
Like many other institutions of Göttingen University, the Coin Collection was founded and expanded on a large scale by the professor und library director Christian Gottlob Heyne, who was appointed to the university in 1763. more...













Collections of the Archaeological Institute: Antiquities Collection
OriginalsammlungSome of the originals kept in Göttingen are of outstanding importance for the sciences and humanities. Some are so well known that they are loaned to international archaeological exhibitions, such as most recently the above-mentioned Körtian bronze statuettes of Etruscan priests for a large-scale exhibition on the Etruscans in Venice in the winter of 2000/2001. more...





Collection of historical objects at the Institute for Astrophysics
AstrophsyikThe collection dates back to one of the oldest institutions of Göttingen University, the observatory founded in 1748. It documents two and a half centuries of the history of science and the contributions of outstanding scientists in Göttingen, such as Tobias Mayer (1723?1762), Carl Friedrich Gauß (1777?1855) and Karl Schwarzschild (1873?1916). more...



Blumenbach Skull Collection
Blumenbachsche SchädelsammlungJohann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752?1840) was a young Professor of Medicine at the Medical Faculty of Göttingen University when in the 1780s he started to focus his anatomical research entirely on the human skull. more...









Old Botanical Garden
Botanischer GartenThe Botanical Garden was established in the university's founding days in 1736 by Albrecht von Haller as "hortus medicus". It is thus one of the university's oldest historical treasures and has stood its ground for over a quarter of a millennium with the same purpose in the same place. more...











Experimental Botanical Garden (formerly New Botanical Garden)
Neuer Botanischer GartenThe New Botanical Garden is the experimental garden of the University of Göttingen:
Its scope includes scientific research, plant propagation for teaching purposes, environmental education, preservation of endangered species and information for the public. more...



Göttingen Museum of Chemistry
MuseumGoettingerChemieThe Göttingen Museum of Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry was founded in 1979. The collection includes several hundred historical objects, photographs, books and documents on the history of chemistry, particularly in Göttingen. more...





Diplomatic Apparatus
Diplomatischer ApparatThe Diplomatic Apparatus (Apparatus diplomaticus) is a research institution that forms part of the Faculty of Humanities. It houses a unique collection of well over a thousand written documents in various - predominantly old and non-European - languages from Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. more...




Ethnographic Collection
Ethnologische SammlungThe Ethnographic Collection of Göttingen University is one of the most important teaching and research collections in the German-speaking world. Its beginnings can be traced to the time of the Enlightenment. Spanning two floors, it represents the regions of America, Asia, Australia, Oceania and Africa. more...





Botanical Forest Garden and Arboretum
Forst Botanischer GartenThe Botanical Forest Garden in Hann. Münden was opened in 1870 under the leadership of master gardener ZABEL (1828?1912). The purpose of the garden was to provide demonstration material for the forestry students and to facilitate cultivations and other studies. more...







Forest Zoology and Wildlife Biology Collections
ForstzoologischeInsects, birds and collectable wildlife species can be viewed in the collections of the Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation. The objects predominantly derive from southern Lower Saxony. Besides specimens of antlers and horns, the extensive historical collection of birds of prey, owls and game birds made by Wilhelm Georg Glimmann is worthy of special mention. more...





Collection on the History of Perinatal Medicine
GeburtsmedizinThe Department of Ethics and History of Medicine contains an important teaching collection on the history of academic perinatal medicine. The exhibition as it is presented today on the lower ground floor of the Department of Ethics and History of Medicine was curated and implemented in 1995 by the midwife and ethnologist Christine Loytved. more...







Museum, Collections and the Göttingen Geopark of the Geoscience Centre
Geowissenschaftliches Museum der Universität GöttingenThe Geoscience Museum of the University of Göttingen is one of the few museums in Lower Saxony with publicly accessible exhibition areas on subjects related to geology, mineralogy and palaeontology. more...













Collection of historical objects at the Institute of Geophysics
GeophysikThe oldest instrument at the Institute of Geophysics was built by Reichenbach, Utzschneider and Liebherr in 1813 and is approximately 60 cm in height. In 1813 Gauß reported on the acquisition and first measurements with which he determined Göttingen Observatory's polar distance based on observations of the North Star. more...





Heinz Kirchhoff Collection: Symbols of the Feminine
weioblichkeitFigurative representations of women during pregnancy, in birth or in their role as a mother are found in most epochs and civilisations of the earth. Naturalistic, reduced to symbols, stylised, formed out of clay, stone or wood: their function and meaning is as different as the times and cultures themselves. more...





University Herbarium
HerbariumThe Herbarium (international acronym GOET) has over 800,000 herbarium specimens of plants from around the world, of which more than 10,000 are type specimens. The oldest collections today include those of Friedrich Ehrhardt and a collection of plants from the South Pacific, which were collected by Georg Forster, and presented to the university. more...






Human Embryology Collection ("Blechschmidt Collection")
BlechschmidtOver a period of 25 years, from 1946 to 1973, under the direction of Prof. Blechschmidt, 120 embryos from the first trimester of pregnancy were collected, along with 200 organs and body parts of human embryos and foetuses from all pregnancy stages as fortunate discoveries from gynaecological operations. more...








Collection of Historical Books for Children and Young Adults
20kinder140Literature for children and young people is of interest to children and adults alike. Discover valuable and amazing things from the world of children's books. more...

















University Art Collection
KunstsammlungThe University of Göttingen's Art Collection with its 300 paintings, 2,500 drawings, 15,000 pages of printed graphics and 100 sculptures is among the largest collections of its kind belonging to a university even by international standards. In addition, there are about 150 works by video artists from all over the world. Founded in the second half of the 18th century through endowments from the Frankfurt patrician Johann Friedrich von Uffenbach and the court secretary Johann Wilhelm Zschorn from Celle, the collection has steadily grown since then. more...



Collection of Mathematical Models and Instruments
Sammlung Mathematischer Modelle und InstrumenteThe University of Göttingen not only has an important collection of historical mathematical models, but it is also Germany?s most extensive collection. In addition, there are wall charts, tools and instruments and a collection of slides. more...











Göttingen Collection of Medical Moulages
MoulagensammlungMoulages are wax casts true to the original size, shape and colour of pathologically changed body regions and sections of the skin. They were used in the first half of the 20th century primarily as medical teaching and study material. more...















Musical Instrument Collection
musinssamlThe Musical Instrument Collection of the University of Göttingen is among the largest collections of its kind in Germany, with 1,921 objects (date: September 2011). It predominantly contains musical instruments from Europe, Africa (including ancient Egypt) and Asia. more...















Collections of Palynology and Climate Dynamics
Sammlungen_Palynologie_u_Klimadynamik_PollenAt our department we have what must be one of the world?s most extensive collections of recent pollens and spores. It contains material for comparison from four continents and aids in the reliable identification of the examined subfossil material. more...











Pharmacognostic Collection
Pharmakognostische_Sammlung_CacaoFounded in 1836, the collection contains medicinal plants of the 19th century. Many of them are preserved in the original jars and cases. Besides plant-based drugs, there are also some animal-based specimens, such as musk glands and elk hooves. Particularly noteworthy items include a piece of bark from the 'monkey pot tree' collected by Alexander von Humboldt in South America. more...



Collection of historical physics instruments of the Institute of Physics I
Sammlung historischer physikalischer Geräte des I. Physikalischen InstitutsThe Collection of Historical Physics Instruments can be found in the entrance to the new lecture halls. It reflects experimental physics from the beginnings of systematic university research and education at the time of the Enlightenment in the 18th century through to the birth of quantum mechanics in the first half of the 20th century. more...





GWDG Computer Museum
rechnermuseumIn 1980 at the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen (GWDG) ? the computer and IT competence centre for the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Society ? they began exhibiting parts of large mainframe systems, some complete computers, peripheral devices, calculation devices and early calculators in the corridors and the entrance hall. more...



Forensic Medicine Collection
Rechtsmedizin_Stoffproben_BeschmauchungExhibits from this collection make it possible to reconstruct violent impacts on the body. These include accidents, suicide and violence with blunt and sharp impacts including the use of weapons. In this way, the collection presents areas of general thanatology as well as the juridical category of natural and unnatural death. more...


Collection of the Department of Pre- and Protohistory
Ur- und FrühgeschichteThe collection currently includes around 9,300 items, which are recorded in a digital catalogue. It provides a good overview of the pre- and protohistory of Central Europe and is extensively used in the department's teaching activities. more...













Zoological Museum
Zoologisches MuseumLocated at the Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology of the University of Göttingen, the Zoological Museum houses well over 100,000 preserved animals in jars, boxes and cases. Many of these are valuable treasures. more...