The Foundation of The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum (1912)

Karl August Lingner (1861-1916), the Odol mouthwash manufacturer, initiated the foundation of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum (1912). In 1911, Lingner was the driving force behind the First International Hygiene Exhibition which drew over 5 million visitors to Dresden. This exhibition provided information not only about human anatomy but also about health care, nutrition and living. The exhibition was also so successful because the objects were presented with the most modern technology in an unprecedented visually graphic way. During the Weimar Republic years the museum contributed decisively to the development of a more democratic public health system through its comprehensible state-of-the-art scientific presentations. (1912)

The First International Hygiene Exhibition is held in Dresden, sponsored largely by the Dresden manufacturer Karl August Lingner, the producer of Odol mouthwash. Lasting from May through October, the exhibition is seen by a record 5 million people. Lingner develops the idea for a national hygiene museum.

This year marks the founding of The Apprentice Workshops of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, GmbH. A permanent exhibition, "Man," is installed.

Touring shows at home and abroad mark the commencement of the museum's exhibition activities. Between 1919 and 1937, the museum mounts 1,241 exhibitions, attracting 30 million visitors throughout the world.

The association created to promote the construction of a new museum facility is renamed the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Association. Many important public figures, companies, and organizations are members.

After the cornerstone is laid near Dresden's city center, construction begins on today's museum building, designed by Professor Wilhelm Kreis. The production and international distribution of instructional materials increases. By 1937, for example, output included approximately 497,000 charts and illustrations and 735,000 photographs about anatomy, health, and hygiene.

On May 16, the newly completed Deutsches Hygiene-Museum opens. The main attraction of the subsequent Second International Hygiene Exhibition is the "Transparent Man."

Numerous exhibitions are mounted but are misused by the National Socialists to  propagate their Nazi racial ideology after they take power.

The production of models depicting human biological functions is resumed.

The first postwar exhibitions are organized: "Venereal Diseases and Ways to Combat Them" and "National Diseases." The museum resumes the activity of mounting exhibitions abroad. In Stockholm, the "Transparent Woman" makes her first postwar appearance.

The "Transparent Horse" is developed. Artificial skeletons are produced for the first time.

The museum is renamed the "Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in the G D R." The Institute for Health Education and the Institute for Biological and Anatomical Illustrative Material are founded.

The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum is appointed to serve the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Cooperation Center for Health Education.

The Free State of Saxony assumes responsibility for the museum as a state institution administered by the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, and Family. The manufacturing workshops are privatized and converted into a company called Instructional Materials, GmbH.

The Health and Environment Forum and the Science Forum are founded as departments. The concept of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum is expanded to include special exhibitions, congresses, and conferences on the topics of man, body, health, environment, and culture.

A competition held by the Free State of Saxony to decide who shall renovate the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum is won by the Coop Himmelb(l)au Architectural Office in Vienna.

The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum collaborates on the concept for parts of the Man-Nature-Technology theme park of the world exhibition, EXPO 2000, in Hanover, Germany.

After a new selection process, the Dresden architect Peter Kulka is entrusted with the renovation of the building housing the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum.

The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Foundation is founded with the participation of the Free State of Saxony, the capital city of Saxony (Dresden), and the Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG.

General renovation of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum begins.

The first section of the new permanent exhibition opens on April 1.

The second section of the new permanent exhibition opens on April 23.

 

Source: Deutsches Hygiene-Museum