Collections of the Faculty of Medicine

Medical-Historical Collection

The approximately 1,600 objects in this collection are mainly from the inventories of the institutions that preceded the University Hospital and the Dresden Faculty of Medicine, i.e. the Dresden-Johannstadt Hospital and the Dresden Surgical-Medical Academy. They also come from the Institute for the History of Medicine at Ruhr University Bochum, acquisitions of antiquarian objects, as well as from private collections or the estates of doctors in Central Germany. The oldest exhibits, such as enemas and phlebotomy devices, can be traced back to approximately 1800. Another collection comprises instruments and equipment from the second half of the 19^th century, including microscopes, induction coils, hearing aids, surgical instruments and a dental drill. The majority of the objects dates back to the period after 1900. The collection is frequently used in university student education and medical training in order to illustrate the development of diagnostic and therapeutic methods in medicine. The main part of the collection can be visited in the basement of building 105 at the University Hospital.

Collection of Doctors, Patients and Disease in Art

In 1996, the Institute of the History of Medicine began putting together this collection, which currently consists of more than 700 pieces, mainly graphic works by about 150 artists. The Dresden collection acquires works of high artistic value that show physician-patient relationships, scenes of treatment, the emergence and transience of life, but also illustrations of the sick and suffering. It is dominated by works from post-war Germany, predominantly art from the GDR and the new states. The Institute plans to expand the collection temporally and regionally. The images, which are available in digital form, are used in teaching, to enrich lectures and discussions. Several exhibition projects have demonstrated the richness and diversity of the collection.

Publications

M. Lienert, C.-P. Heidel, Die Medizinhistorische Sammlung, in: Sammlungen und Kunstbesitz, Technische Universität Dresden. Hrsg. von der Rektorin der Technischen Universität Dresden. Dresden 2022, p. 47-56.
K. Mauersberger, Die Sammlung Arzt, Patient und Krankheit in der Kunst, in: Sammlungen und Kunstbesitz, Technische Universität Dresden. Hrsg. von der Rektorin der Technischen Universität Dresden. Dresden 2022, p. 155-168.

Contact

Faculty of Medicine „Carl Gustav Carus“
Institut for the History of Medicine
Löscherstr. 18

Dr. Marina Lienert, Phone +49 351 3177-405
Marina.Lienert@tu-dresden.de