2 / 2022 // LEOPOLDINA / NEWS 13
The Language of Objects
The Leopoldina ’ s natural history collection contains this image of a fossilised scallop
Museums and collections changed at the transition from the 18th to the 19th century : They became accessible to the wider public . This also changed the way collection objects were described and the meaning attributed to them .
From 2018 until 2020 , a joint research project of the Centre for Science Studies of the Leopoldina , the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Bonn investigated these changes by taking the example of the shells of mussels , snails and fossil molluscs .
The project examined the mollusc shell collections held by the three institutions and was able to record a total of 2,500 objects using richly illustrated catalogues dated from between 1759 and 1844 in a joint data base .
The subsequent analysis tried to answer the following guiding questions : How did the valuation of objects change ? Which scientific , institutional , economic , social , aesthetic and perso-
The Leopoldina ’ s natural history collection contains this image of a fossilised scallop .
nal conditions affected this change ? The project , which received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research , came to the following result : The financial value attributed to mollusc shells was predominantly determined by their scarcity .
However , scarcity alone was never the only aspect : Private collections were focused on showing the regular
Image : Katalog Kniphof | Leopoldina
patterns and beauty of nature through these objects . In museums , however , objects were mostly considered under the aspect of their place in natural history and taxonomy . The former practice of exchanging one or several objects was not mirrored in public collections , where the main focus was the objects ’ usefulness for academic teaching .
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Guidelines
Leopoldina promotes symposia
The Leopoldina offers non-material or financial support of events to its members . Support is subject to the approval by the Presidium for the event to be supported as a Leopoldina event . There is also the option of supporting internal meetings of sections and classes .
The guidelines for Leopoldina Symposiums and internal meetings provides information about how to apply and how to prepare and organise an event .
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Guidelines Leopoldina Symposia
Award for Jutta Schnitzer-Ungefug
Order of Merit for the former Secretary-General of the Leopoldina
The former Secretary-General of the Leopoldina , Jutta Schnitzer-Ungefug , has been awarded the Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany . The award was presented by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Quedlinburg to honour her achievements for the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt , the city of Halle ( Saale ) and the Leopoldina . The neurobiologist was the Leopoldina ’ s Secretary-General for 20 years .
“ With the expansion of the Academy ‘ s office following her appointment in 2008 , Jutta Schnitzer-Ungefug contributed to the Leopoldina ’ s image as a modern working academy that
Jutta Schnitzer-Ungefug
Image : Markus Scholz | Leopoldina
bundles scientific understanding and conveys this knowledge to policy makers and the public ,” said Gerald Haug , President of the Leopoldina , in a statement .
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