The search for the exotic in the 19th century

Thanks to the development in the natural sciences - which was always exploration and exploitation - the first globalisation took place at the beginning and during the 19th century with the end of the Age of Discovery. Both in scientific-cultural and political-mercantile terms.

In the process, the exotic and the other in nature, but above all "the others" - namely other human cultures - came to the attention of European nations. This raises the question for us today: How did people see the world in the 19th century?

We consider this question for Europe, the German-speaking world and in particular Hamburg as the "gateway to the world" and Berlin as Prussia's emerging centre of power and culture: in what ways did the engagement with the living world and foreign cultures take place here?

Godeffroy's natural history collection: once the largest in the world

Based on this leitmotif, we are investigating the relationships between humans in the field of tension between nature and culture as part of an interdisciplinary and international co-operation. We do this from the perspective of natural history using the example of the collecting activities of the "South Sea King" Johan Cesar VI Godeffroy.

In the 19th century, the Hamburg merchant Johan Cesar VI Godeffroy owned the largest private natural history collection in the world. It was also the source of Hamburg's famous Natural History Museum. It was destroyed in 1943 - and is still waiting to be resurrected today.