Das Neue Wissen vom Menschen. Entstehung und Entwicklung des Deutschen Hygiene-Museums in Dresden 1900 - 1931

Masterarbeit aus dem Jahr 2008 im Fachbereich Gesch. Europa - Deutschland - I. Weltkrieg, Weimarer Republik, Note: 1,0, Europa-Universitt Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: This paper is a study of the formation and development of the Deutsches
Hygiene-Museum in Dresden. It tells the history of the Museum ranging from 1900
to 1931. Its main objective is to point out essential stages in the development of
the institution and identify important persons as well as essential cultural trends
which influenced the museum. Furthermore ideas concerning the human as a being
which structured the hygienic teachings of the museum and its predecessors are
examined. Considering this the methodical approach is a dual one. On the one hand
a chronological overview is given and important cultural developments are treated
in short digressions. On the other hand relevant original sources are analysed.
The genesis of the DHMD is divided into two major periods. In the first
phase Karl August Lingner had a strong influence. This was until about 1912. The
second phase covers the development of the institution after this time 1931.
In the first part of the paper the importance of the Hygiene discourse is
discussed, as well as the development of the city of Dresden. Finally the analysis of
Lingners social engagements serves as a key towards the understanding of the
hygienic developments in Dresden. The institution had
developed to be a hybrid ensemble of very different parts ranging from exhibitions,
to academy, to the profit-oriented production of educational materials. The
museum conveyed its messages by using the most sophisticated methods of
communication available in the 1920s. It was the protagonist of a very rational,
science-based and body-focussed view of the modern human. Thus it was a reaction
to the instability brought by the modern constantly changing industrialised way of
living. Five main ideas were identified which structured the hygienic education of
the