Collections

Medical Museion holds many collections, which show how the medical sciences have developed over the past 200+ years. The collections are of a high international quality. Here, you can find some examples of what we keep for posterity.

Leitz mikroskop, Medicinsk Museion

Microscopes

Museion’s collection of microscopes is in a class of its own, internationally speaking. The oldest microscopes are from before 1750 and there is a wide representation up to the present day, with an emphasis on the 18th and 19th century. The technological development of the microscope has an inestimable importance for the developement of medical progresses, and the exquisite workmanship makes them quite special aesthetic objects at the same time. The collection contains microscopes used by famous Danish scientists.

Tekstiler og beklædning. En del af Medicinsk Museions samling.

Textiles & Clothing

Our collection of textiles and clothing is a portrait in the history of style, spanning from the middle of the 19th century to the present. The objects attests to the industrial and technological progress, which has been taking place in textile production within the period, while, simultaneously, telling the story of the staff of hospitals and the patiens they have taken care of.

Pharmaceutics

The pharmaceutical-historical collection shows how the pharmaceutical trade has developed from before the year 1700 and until the present international reputation of the Danish medical industry. The collection comprises the equipment and the materials, that were used in the specialized manufacturing of a very wide assortment of medicaments at the old pharmacies, through the standardization of the medical industry and mass production to the goal-oriented health care of the present day. The thousands of pharmacy jars in the collection showcase the development of style from baroque to rococo, neoclassicism, empire, historicism to art nouveau around the year 1900. While going the collection from the perspective of the professional conservator, we have preserved as much of the original materials for manufacturing medicine as possible.

Model af tiger

Collection for the history of blindness

The collection contains a large amount of objects, pictures and books in both Brailles, relief- and moon writing.
The collection must be considered one of the most well registered collections for the history of blindness in the world; and it is without comparison the most easily accessible. Our hope is, that the collection can function as a source of inspiration for educators of the visually impaired and as a information center for social historians interested in the care work for visually impaired persons.

The collection has been digitalized and can be viewed in Danish here.

Medical moulages

Moulages are anatomically correct wax copies of direct imprints of serious skin diseases. They are produced between 1905 and 1930 and show skin diseases that can be intimidating, such as skin cancer on the face and document the positive results of the light treatment introduced by the doctor Niels Finsen, the first Nobel prize winner in Denmark. The collection contains 75 moulages and is the only of its kind in Denmark.

Denne undervisningstavle med hofteledsproteser indgår i samlingen fra Holstebro Sygehus. Foto: Medicinsk Museion.

Holstebro Hospital

The objects of the collection document and gives an inside into the treatment and diagnosis of patients at the hospital, especially from the 1950s and onwards. The collection for Holstebro Hosptal covers both normal hospital functions and specialized departments.

Præparatsamling fra Retsmedicinsk Institut, Medicinsk Musieon

Collection of specimen from the forensic institute

The collection contains more than a hundred objects, mainly wet specimen. Amongst it, one can find foeticide, stab wounds, burns, blood clots, mercury poisonings and much else. A few specimen are exhibited in the Body Collected.

Samling af proteser på Medicinsk Museion

Protheses & bandages

The collection contains both bandages, caliper splints,  and prostheses. It showcases a complete and coherent narrative about the work of Danish surgical appliance makers in the development of aids for people with disabilities and treatment of broken limbs.

Contact

Would you like to know more?

If you would like to know more about the collections, please contact our collection department here.