Tartu ülikooli looduslookabinetist erialamuuseumideni

From the University of Tartu Naturalien-Kabinett up to special museums

Abstract

The history of the Natural History Museum of the University of Tartu
dates back to the year 1802 when the university’s Naturalien-Kabinet
(museum), received its first collection on the 25th of March.
However, the decision to establish the natural history collections for
teaching had already been made in March 1801, when the head of
the university’s trust institution decided to buy a collection of minerals,
fossils and marine organisms in Mitau (Jelgava). We don’t know
whether or not this collection arrived in Tartu, but it shows how important
the natural history collections were even before the opening
of the university.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, the natural history collections
represented a wide range of natural sciences: mineralogy,
paleontology, zoology and botany. The first director of the museum,
Professor Gottfried Albrecht Germann (1773–1809), carried out fieldwork
collecting plants, birds and insects. The museum received many
donations, but collections also grew through purchases and exchanges.
The very first purchase was made in 1802, and it consisted of
1920 minerals from the collection of J. C. W. Voigt (1752–1821).
The next director of the museum, Carl Friedrich von Ledebour
(1785–1851, director 1811–22), divided the museum’s collection into
two parts: the zoological collection and the geological collection, and
they were placed into separate halls. All herbariums were handed
over to the botanical garden. In 1820 the university established a
museum of mineralogy and in 1822 a separate museum for zoology.
These museums were managed by the professors of mineralogy and
the professors of zoology, and the focus of collecting was linked to
their research work.
From 1820 to 1841 the director of the museum of mineralogy
was Otto Moritz Ludwig von Engelhard (1779–1842), who collected
thousands of minerals and rocks; the collections grew to 12 800 items.

His successor, Professor Constantin von Grewingk (1819–87) even
increased the number of geological objects in the collection about
twofold. The collection of meteorites grew from 3 pieces to 140 and
the museum of zoology handed over its paleontological collection. In
1858 the museum moved into a new location and a new display of
collections was made by Grewingk. In 1863 Grewingk published a
collection catalogue for the wider public.
The first director of the museum of zoology during 1822–31, Professor
Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz (1793–1831), expanded the
collections through purchases and exchanges. Eschscholtz brought
about 2 400 specimens from Kotzebue’s expedition around the world.
Unfortunately, the museum lost its collections in the fire of 1829, and
the zoological collections had to be collected again. Professor Adolph
Eduard Grube (1812–80), director of the museum during 1843–56,
set up a collection of invertebrates. Besides this, the museum received
many donations, and the number of specimens increased to 9 000.
In the beginning of the 20th century there were already 16 648 specimens
in the museum of zoology.
Already from the beginning of 19th century the natural history collections
were opened to the public. Several positive reviews are available
from German travellers, who visited Tartu and the museums
in the middle of the 19th century. There was a large exhibition about
natural and medical sciences including a display of the collections in
1910. The exhibition was organized by professors and students, and
more than 4 600 people visited the exhibition in the university’s main
building and the riding hall.
In 1916, the University of Tartu had to evacuate all its property
to central Russia, because of World War I. The collections of geology,
zoology and botany were sent to Voronezh and Perm. According to
the peace treaty between the Estonian Republic and Soviet Russia in
1920, the property of the university had to be returned, but most of
the museum’s collections were not. The museum of geology got back
2/3 of its paleontological collection and less than half of its mineralogical
collection. The museum of zoology lost almost everything: only
16 skeletons and stuffed animals and a few boxes with small mammals
were returned.