The teaching collection at the Institute of Anatomy presents historical and current macroscopic anatomical specimens – from the late 19th century to the present.
The origins of our university’s anatomical teaching collection go back to the 18th century. Parts of the collection were accumulated under the direction of Wilhelm His (1872–1904). The Leipzig-based professor of anatomy worked closely with the Leipzig sculptor Steger to produce plaster casts of various regions of the human body. The Steger-His anatomical models were presented in a catalogue and sold as teaching material throughout Europe. The entire collection was destroyed when the institute was bombed during an air raid on 4 December 1943. Most of the wet specimens date back to the 1950s to 1970s. The reconstructed collection was reopened in 2000. The collection is not currently being extended.
Today the display cases use models, drawings, wet specimens and short explanations to depict large sections of macroscopic anatomy – from the locomotor and digestive systems to the central nervous system.
Opening hours
On request, guided tours are available for medical training courses and for upper secondary school classes. The collection is accessible during the “Long Night of the Sciences”.