Jahresbericht 2009-2010 - Senckenberg

Superlative Shows:
Museum Exhibitions
2009 / 2010
ise visitor-focused special exhibitions which are
mostly developed in Frankfurt and Görlitz, and
also in Dresden in the near future.
and London, and also in Norway, Poland, the
Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland – not
forgetting many museums in Germany. Senckenberg
has thus further enhanced its global player
ed its highest ever visitor figures in 2009 – many
visitors attracted by the special exhibition were
incentivised to visit the permanent exhibition as
well. In the end, some 620,000 people walked
From the depths of the oceans to the biggest
The international special exhibitions provide a
status in the exhibition world.
through the doors of the main building and into
dinosaurs and on to prehistoric man and the
window on Senckenberg’s own research. Devel-
the Wolfgang Steubing Exhibition Hall. The Deep
minute organisms that crawl beneath our feet:
oping such exhibitions on the current scale is
At the Frankfurt site, the opening of the Wolf-
Sea exhibition was eventually shown at five loca-
Senckenberg’s museums in Frankfurt, Görlitz and
something new for Senckenberg. For the first
gang Steubing Exhibition Hall in 2008 represent-
tions – Frankfurt, Basel, Berlin, London and Dres-
Dresden put on superlative shows in 2009 and
time, current research topics can be addressed at
ed a quantum leap, offering an additional 1,000
den, where it was formally opened to the public
2010.
regular intervals across the various institutes us-
m² of exhibition space for large-scale, temporary
in the Japanisches Palais on 4 November 2010.
ing visitor-focused presentations to bring the mu-
exhibitions and thus new focus topics. Until the
By the end of that year, a grand total of 250,000
// Three locations with three
seums’ exhibits to a broader audience. And the
Culture Campus at Bockenheim is completed, the
visitors had seen the exhibition at one or other
unique offerings
approach is proving popular: The Deep Sea exhi-
hall will be used for a range of cross-genre exhibi-
Senckenberg location.
bition from Frankfurt and the Beneath Our Feet:
tions and will form an integral part of the Senck-
The merger of Senckenberg with the institutes in
Life in Soil exhibition from Görlitz each attracted
enberg program on offer to the people of Frank-
// Journey through human history
Dresden, Görlitz and Müncheberg added two new
over 600,000 visitors at home and abroad. The
furt and their visitors. In Görlitz, space in the
locations to the fold, each with their own muse-
Safari to Prehistoric Man, Wolves and Life Under
Natural History Museum is used for special exhi-
The Safari to Prehistoric Man (Safari zum Urmen-
um and highly popular exhibitions. The museum
Water 2010 exhibitions were also extremely suc-
bitions, while those in Dresden are housed in the
schen) was another highly popular exhibition.
directors at all three sites use this new potential
cessful, with around 200,000 visitors all told.
Cavalier’s House at Moritzburg Castle and in the
Produced entirely by Senckenberg, it was also
and – in shorter intervals than in the past – organ-
These touring exhibitions were shown in Berlin
Japanisches Palais (Japanese Palace). Also, the
shown in the Wolfgang Steubing Exhibition Hall
various Senckenberg locations are used to show
from 9 October 2009 to 15 August 2010. It took
a number of external exhibitions such as the Gi-
visitors on two separate journeys: the first led to a
gasaurs show on Güterplatz in Frankfurt.
reconstructed excavation site in Africa, where
Sonderausstellung in
Görlitz „Gläserne Tierwelt
Meisterwerke aus dem
Glasstudio Borowski“ der
polnischen Glaskünstlerfamilie
Borowski.
Apart from its ‘blockbluster’ exhibitions, Senckenberg
also hosted a number of small and largerscale
exhibitions in 2009 and 2010, with their
content being communicated using a range of
museum-based education methods.
Senckenberg researchers are investigating the origins
of man. From there, visitors embarked on a
journey through time. Starting seven million years
ago, with Sahelanthropus and the early days of
human history, the ‘time travellers’ progressed up
to modern man, Homo sapiens. A key element of
// Special exhibition in
Görlitz: “Masterpieces
from the Polish Glas
Art Studio Borowski.”
// The Deep Sea and Prehistoric
Man in Frankfurt
the journey through time involved the unique
presentation of 26 life-like models of human
heads, each with its own unique facial features.
Based on original finds, the heads were recon-
In Frankfurt alone, a total of eight special exhibi-
structed using anthropological and forensic meth-
tions were held in 2009, and a further nine in
ods.
2010. Three proved particularly popular among
the general public.
As part of the exhibition, Senckenberg opened its
archives and, in a suitably secure room, present-
// Deep dive into the River Main
ed for a limited period valuable artefacts from its
anthropological collection. This gave visitors a
The highlight came with the Deep Sea exhibition
chance to view the original lower jaw bone of
which was held in the Wolfgang Steubing Exhibi-
Homo rudolfensis (UR 501) and an original Homo
tion Hall from 19 December 2008 to 30 June
erectus skull (SANGIRAN IV). Additionally, visitors
2009. This exhibition was a joint project with the
were able to view the world premier of ‘Ida’, the
Natural History Museum in Basel. It was thanks
original fossil of the ‘Grandmother of all Humans’,
to the outstanding success of this exhibition that
the Messel Pit primate Darwinius masillae, along
the Senckenberg Natural History Museum record-
with the original teeth of the huge Gigantopithecus.
88 Schau der Superlative – die Museen und ihre Ausstellungen 2009 / 2010 Schau der Superlative – die Museen und ihre Ausstellungen 2009 / 2010 89