The Museum Godeffroy was a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, which existed from 1861 to 1885. SeitzFaunaIndoAustralicaPlate27

The collection was founded by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, who became a wealthy

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

magnate a few years after the expansion of the trade towards

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, most commonly refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. The term South Sea may also be used synonymously for Oceania, or even more narrowly for Polynesia or the Polynesian Triangle ...

. His expert collectors and captains brought back to Hamburg

zoological Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

material. Captains of vessels, traders and missionaries received exact instructions and appropriate equipment so that they could collect soft bodied animals into alcohol, properly set butterflies or beetles, and prepare bird and mammal skins and skulls.

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

instructions and mineral collecting kits were also issued. Duplicate or unwanted parts were sold. Throughout the museum's history it also sold human skulls from the Pacific regions (including

) where the company had a monopoly. This was very profitable.

Anthropometry Anthropometry (, ) refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of biological anthropology, physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthr ...

and "Missing Link" theories required especially Aborigine skulls and these were sold to scientific institutions and museums worldwide. The more important material was sold to

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earne ...

and

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

, then pre-eminent German physical anthropologists. The museum opened in 1861 in parts of the Kontorhäuser (Counting House Building) of the company "J. C. Godeffroy & son". The exhibition on two floors covered the natural history, ethnography and anthropology of the

Mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s and other

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

marine life Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, aquatic plant, plants, algae, marine fungi, fungi, marine protists, protists, single-celled marine microorganisms, microorganisms ...

(especially shells), masks, totems, costume, weapons, personal ornament and anthropological subjects, aboriginal skulls, photographs of native peoples and so on were displayed in small cases. Larger items, such as boats and reconstructed houses, stood free. Admission was weekdays from 11 to 14 o'clock for one

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

, and on the weekends from 10 to 14 o'clock for 50

Pfennig The pfennig (; . 'pfennigs' or 'pfennige' ; currency symbol, symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former Germany, German coin or note, which was an official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valua ...

. Experts in various fields ("Auftragssammler") were employed on expeditions and for scientific examination and other work on the collection. They included

Eduard Heinrich Graeffe Eduard Heinrich Graeffe or Gräffe (27 December 1833, Zurich – 23 April 1916 Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple ...

Amalie Dietrich Koncordie Amalie Dietrich (née Nelle) (26 May 1821 – 9 March 1891) was a Germans, German naturalist who was best known for her work in Australia from 1863 to 1872, collecting specimens for the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg. Australia Dietrich w ...

, Johann Stanislaus Kubary, Richard Parkinson, Andrew Garrett, Eduard Dämel, Franz Hübner,

Alfred Tetens Alfred Tetens (1 July 1835, in Wilster – 13 January 1903, in Hamburg) was a German captain, South Seas explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observa ...

and Theodor Kleinschmidt, among others. The overall curator was Johann Schmeltz (1839–1909). In addition, he provided 1865 and 1881 sales catalogs and edited the ''Journal des Museum Godeffroy''. A number of

binomial names In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

were published for the first time in these publications giving them significance in

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

. The Semper brothers, also from Hamburg,

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

(1830–1907),

Karl Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cac ...

(1832–1893) and

Georg Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg "Spiders Georg" is an Internet meme that began circulating on the mic ...

(1837–1909) played an important part in the assembly and conservation of the museum's holdings. Georg named the rare Samoa butterfly ''

Papilio godeffroyi ''Papilio godeffroyi'', the Godeffroy's swallowtail, ( Samoan ') is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. ''Papilio godeffroyi'' was endemic to all of Samoa, but it is now found only on the island of Tutuila, where it is uncommon but widespre ...

'' for Johann Godeffroy. After the discontinuation of all payments in Dec. 1879 the museum existed further as it did not belong to the company J.C. Godeffroy & Son anymore. Dr. Wilhelm Godeffroy became the owner for a grant to the company. Since 1881 the museum had been threatened in its existence, as all buildings should be pulled down in the area. The abridgement began 1885. The same year in which Cesar Godeffroy died, Dr. Wilhelm Godeffroy finished the negotiations without reaching his wish, to keep the collection in its own rooms in Hamburg. A large number of exhibits and specimens survive today in the Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig (now merged with the Staatlichen Ethnographischen Sammlung Sachsens and containing 5000 objects comprehensive for

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and including objects from

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

and

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

); the

Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg The Museum am Rothenbaum – Kulturen und Künste der Welt (lit. ''Museum at the Rothenbaum – Cultures and Arts of the World'', abbr.: MARKK, former name: Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg, ), founded in 1879, is today one of the largest museums of ...

; the

Ethnological Museum of Berlin The Ethnologisches Museum Berlin () is one of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin (), the de facto national collection of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its exhibitions are presently located in the Humbol ...

; the

Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

; and the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. There is also zoological material in the Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum,Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum
the

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

, Berlin, the

Civico Museo di Storia Naturale di Trieste Civico Museo di Storia Naturale di Trieste is a natural history museum in Trieste, northern Italy. It contains several collections, including more than two millions botanical, zoological, mineralogical, geological, and paleontological specimens. ...

and the

Naturhistorisches Museum The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

.The Godeffroy Collection of Australian and South Pacific insects is in the Victoria Museum in Melbourne, Australia.The zoological material supports

Faunistic Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and ''funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively r ...

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

Johann Schmeltz, the former curator was already a co-worker of the

Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums, also known as ethnological museums, conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include: List by country or region Albania * Ethnog ...

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

(now the

Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde Wereldmuseum Leiden (also known as Museum Volkenkunde) is a Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands located in the university city of Leiden. As of 2014, the museum, along with Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, and Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, together m ...

), which had purchased parts of the ethnographic collection.

Journal Museum Godeffroy

File:Journaldesmuseumgodeffroy.jpg, Journal Museum Godeffroy Advertisement File:Journaldesmuseumgodeffroygunther.jpg, Title page File:JournalMuseumGodoeffroyHeftXVFischederSudseeHeft7Taf136.jpg, Fische der Sudsee File:Description de quelques Crustaces nouveaux.jpg, Description de quelques Crustaces nouveaux File:Beitrag zur fauna Centralpolynesiens. Ornithologie der Viti-, Samoa- und Tonga-inselnPl7.jpg, Beitrag zur fauna Centralpolynesiens Ornithologie der Viti-, Samoa- und Tonga-inseln File:Neue Nacktschnecken der SüdseeJournal des Museum Godeffroy Heft 2 Taf9.jpg, Neue Nacktschnecken der Südsee File:Australische Kunstgegenstände aus Queensland.jpg, Australische Kunstgegenstände aus Queensland File:TattooCarolinenArchipelagoKubary1875.jpg, Männliche Tattoo e Karolinen Archipel File:Schadel 9800 Queensland.jpg, Schädel von Skelett No. 9800 aus Bowen, Queensland

Literature

* Henry A. Ward: '' Museum Godeffroy.'' In:

Popular Science Monthly Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

, Volume 8, 1. April 1876, (englisch). * Rüdiger Bieler, Richard E. Petit: ''Molluscan taxa in the publications of the Museum Godeffroy of Hamburg, with a discussion of the Godeffroy Sales Catalogs (1864–1884), the Journal des Museum Godeffroy (1873–1910), and a history of the museum'', Zootaxa, Magnolia Press, 2012, ISSN 1175-5334,
PDF
. *Engelhard, Jutta Beate and Mesenhöller, Peter (Hrsg.) 1996 ''Bilder aus dem Paradies. Koloniale Fotografie aus Samoa 1875 - 192''5. 176 Seiten, Jonas Verlag, Marburg . *Fülleborn, Susanne ''Die ethnographischen Unternehmungen des Hamburger Handelshauses Godeffro''y, 202 S., Magisterarbeit, Univ. Hamburg, 1985. *Glenn Penny, H. ''Objects of culture : ethnology and ethnographic museums in Imperial Germany'', Chapel Hill/London: University of North Carolina Press 2002. * Kranz, Helene 2005 Das Museum Godeffroy, 1861-1881 ''Naturkunde und Ethnographie der Südsee''. Eine Publikation des Altonaer Museums. marebuchverlag . *Lederbogen, Jan 1992 ''Ethnographische Photographie: das Beispiel Museum Godeffroy'', 278 S., Magisterarbeit, Univ. Hamburg, 1992 *Scheps, Birgit 2005 ''Das verkaufte Museum. Die Südsee-Unternehmungen des Handelshauses Joh. Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn, Hamburg, und die Sammlungen Museum Godeffroy''. Goecke & Evers, Keltern-Weiler (Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg; N.F., 40) . *Schmeltz, J. D. E. und Krause, R. 1881 ''Die Ethnographisch-Anthropologische Abtheilung des Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg : ein Beitrag zur Kunde der Südsee-Völker'', 687 Seiten u. 46 Taf., Friederichsen, Hamburg.

References

External links

BHL
''Journal des Museum Godeffroy'' Museum Godeffroy Hamburg: L. Friederichsen & Co., 1873–1910.
Special exhibition of the Altonaer museum of 15.11.2005 to 14.05.2006An exhibition criticism from the year 2005Godeffroy Museum CataloguesAnthropological photographySkulls as ScienceGerman workers in the ethnographic fieldHugenotten
{{Authority control Museums established in 1861 Museums disestablished in 1885 1861 establishments in the German Confederation 1885 disestablishments in Germany Defunct museums in Germany Ethnographic museums in Germany Museums in Hamburg Natural history museums in Germany 19th century in Hamburg Godefroy family Demolished buildings and structures in Germany