Göttingen: The Palaeontological Collections of the Geoscience Museum at the Georg-August University in Göttingen

Abstract

Objects collected over more than 300 years, and nearly 250 years of museum tradition have led to one of today’s largest palaeontological collections in Germany. About 2.5 million palaeontological objects are kept in the collections of the Geoscience Museum of the Georg August University, among them types and original material regarding several thousand publications. Just before the official inauguration of the university in 1737, first lectures on natural history were given by Samuel Christian Hollman, Göttingen’s first professor. Already in those times, palaeontological objects had a high significance in the studentical education in natural history, which was continuously retained until today. Besides the importance of the university’s palaeontological collections for teaching purposes in the past and in the future, the objects are a highly important resource for future generations of geoscientists, as they already have been within the last more than two centuries. Last but not least, the palaeontological exhibitions provide a crucial place for the public to get insight into evolution and Earth’s history.