German Museum of Hygiene

The German Museum of Hygiene ( German: Deutsches Hygiene-Museum , also the Museum of Man ) is a museum of medicine in the German city ​​of Dresden .

Hygiene Museum in Dresden

Poster I. International Exhibition on Hygiene, Dresden, 1911, author Franz von Stuck

It was founded as a folk hygiene training center in 1912 after the I. International Hygiene Exhibition (1911) by Karl August Lingner, a German entrepreneur and manufacturer who introduced the first Odol mouthwash to the market. At this time, it was necessary to improve the health status of the poor by opening new schools and hospitals.

A significant contribution to the museum’s collection was made by the anatomist Werner Spaltegolz .

At the museum, one could gain knowledge about human anatomy , healthy eating, personal hygiene and maintaining health.

In 1930, II. International Exhibition on Hygiene. The museum moved to a new building, specially designed for him by the famous architect Wilhelm Chrys . The largest attraction of the museum was the so-called "glass man", which can be seen today.

Since 1933, an exhibition has been created in the museum dedicated to the preservation of the purity of the Aryan race and racial hygiene in the spirit of the national socialist ideology that prevailed in the country.

In February 1945, as a result of the bombing, a significant part of the collection was lost, the building was badly damaged.

During the construction of socialism in East Germany, the Museum of Hygiene performed the tasks of sanitary and hygienic education of the population, starting from childhood. The mascot and symbol of the museum for young citizens of the GDR was Kundi - a man with a large telescope, with the help of which he watched the kids and made comments to them if the children were too lazy to wash. Kundi was a very popular fairy tale figure in the GDR. The new leadership who came to the museum in 1990 declared the little man a “figure from a stasi ”, after which Kundi disappeared from the theme of the museum. As subsequent events showed, this defamation of Kundi was a serious mistake. The museum has not found a new approach to the children's audience and its popularity has declined significantly.

In 2001, the museum was listed in the Blue Book, a list of the most important national cultural institutions of East Germany, containing about 20 cultural beacons.