The Phyletic Museum in 2012
Jena Phyletisches Museum (or Jena Phyletic Museum) is a museum in the German town of
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...
. It was established by the scientist
Ernst Haeckel, as an institute dedicated to explaining
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
to the public. Exhibits include skeletons, stuffed animals,
fossils and
zoological
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and dis ...
artworks from Haeckel's
Kunstformen der Natur
(known in English as ''Art Forms in Nature'') is a book of lithographic and halftone prints by German biologist Ernst Haeckel.
...
, and cover topics including the principles of evolution,
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
and the links between different
taxonomic groups.
A temporary exhibit for 2019 will feature an aquarium of living
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...
.
Location
The museum can be found on Vor dem Neutor, close to
Jena Paradies station and only about 150m from the town centre. It is open Tuesday to Sunday except for Christmas and New Year, and there is a small fee for entry.
a display of cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika
History
Collections of zoological specimens which had been assembled in Jena in the 18th and 19th Centuries were donated to the museum. Some items date back to when
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
was director of the university's anatomical-zoological collection.
The museum building was designed in an
Art Nouveau style by the architect Carl Dittmar, based on sketches by
Ernst Haeckel, then built in 1907 (construction beginning on 28 August 1907) and given by Haeckel to the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
on 30 July 1908, as a gesture to mark the university's 350th anniversary, but no permanent exhibits were placed in the museum until 1912.
The walls are decorated with scientific terms coined by Haeckel – '
Phylogenie' and '
Ontogenie'.
In 2008, a light show was projected on the building as part of the 'Jena Leuchtet' event.
Today the museum is part of the university's department of special zoology and evolutionary biology and stores 500,000 items.
References
* H. Penzlin (Hrsg.): ''Geschichte der Zoologie in Jena nach Haeckel (1909–1974).'' Gustav Fischer Verlag, 1994, .
* M. S. Fischer, G. Brehm, U. Hoßfeld: ''Das Phyletische Museum in Jena.'' Institut für Spezielle Zoologie, 2008, .
{{Authority control
Natural history museums in Germany
