The entomologist Erich Schmidt (1890–1969), his premature dismissal from the Museum Koenig Bonn, and the Nazi plot against the Alexander Koenig Foundation

In this article, environmental and climate practices in science and natural history museums in Türkiye are presented and discussed. While environmental and climate problems are global issues, they have local roots. As environmental issues are related to human activities and museums play a societal role, it is important to examine practices and approaches of museums in relation to the environment. Operations and practices of natural history and science museums in Türkiye, including educational activities, are important elements in communicating the risks of vulnerable environmental issue. This study outlines the environmental practices of the science and natural history museums of Türkiye which are commonly accepted as reliable providers of information to engage with audiences for action towards environmental challenges. Documentary research was conducted for the study. When the environmental practices and approaches are reviewed, it is seen that natural history museums function basically as research areas. Still, they have public education roles and organize educational activities about natural history, biodiversity and environment. While public education is one of the roles of natural history museums besides their conventional functions like collecting, conserving, researching and exhibiting, science centers are institutions dedicated to public education. Since science centers are mostly supported by municipalities, it can be said that they operate in a more sustainable and holistic way. Also, it is seen that their environmental reach-out programs offer a wider range. Based on data, we claim that collaboration with municipalities has an effect on the environmental activities and perspectives of museums. Also, climate-context works encourage museum community to make interdisciplinary works across the world. By presenting the current environmental and climate practices in natural history and science museums in Türkiye, it is aimed that the article can provide collaboration among institutions and advance the discussions among museums in the context of environment and climate.

Recommandations pour la pratique clinique

Museum visitors and non-visitors in Germany: A representative survey

Patterns of twentieth century genocides: the Armenian, Jewish, and Rwandan cases

The “Nazi Detective” as Provider of Justice in Post-1990 British and German Crime Fiction: Philip Kerr's <i>The Pale Criminal</i>, Robert Harris's <i>Fatherland</i>, and Richard Birkefeld and Göran Hachmeister's <i>Wer übrig bleibt, hat recht</i>

Excluding Agency

Gordon John Howes 1938-2013 (Fish Systematist)

The article presents the history of the collection created by the Dzieduszycki family in&#13;\nLviv. The collection contains various ethnographic, numismatic and library exhibits, but fi rst&#13;\nand foremost natural exhibits. In the 19th century Count Włodzimierz Dzieduszycki set up the&#13;\nNatural and Ethnographic Museum in Lviv, based on his collection.&#13;\nThe paper also contains a description of the museum building and the history of the collection&#13;\nduring the 1st and the 2nd World Wars, and in the aftermath of the take over of the&#13;\nmuseum by the USSR authorities after the shifting of borders in 1945.&#13;\nThe activities of people professionally involved in the operation of the Natural Museum&#13;\nin Lviv and their scientifi c relations are also briefl y covered.&#13;\nAfter 1945 the collection was dispersed - some exhibits are to be found in other museums,&#13;\nwhile other exhibits are still in their former building. Unfortunately, it is very diffi cult&#13;\nto access them.

This study was carried out to gauge the current status of natural history collection centres in Malaysia, primarily focused on animal collections. Part of the research is reported here and it constituted objective one which is to compare the status of natural history collection between the various centres in Malaysia and also with three selected Southeast Asian tropical region museums in trying to understand need of the Malaysian public for a natural history museum. It maps out the locations, describes the number and kinds of specimens kept at each collection centre. Financial and governance aspects are also described. In total 11 centres were visited all over Malaysia. These collection centres and museums were managed by federal or state government or universities. Duration of visit at each location ranged from one to seven days. During the visit interviews were carried out with collection manager to obtained Questionnaire was also left behind for managers of centre to fill in and sent back to researchers. In addition, three natural history collection centres and museums in South East Asia tropical region were also visited: Bogor Zoological Museum, Indonesia; Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore and Mahachakri Sirindhorn Natural History Museum, Prince of Songkhla University, Thailand. Following the same protocol as with Malaysian centres, the information obtained enable researcher to make comparison between Malaysia and those in the region. This paper found that most of the natural history museums and collection centres were focused in the centre of peninsular Malaysia. However, natural history collections in Malaysia are still limited by state and national borders. Coordination and integration of these centres, currently runned separately by the federal, state governments, research institutions and institution of higher learning, is seen as the way forward to provide for a strong basis of understanding biodiversity among the Malaysian public.

Prof. Arthur Looss (1861-1923) was a prolific German parasitologist, who, among other things, authored descriptions of 22 new species of nematodes and 115 new species of trematodes. After his death, his collection (including type material) was split between several institutions: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington (USA), Natural History Museum in Berlin and the Natural History Museum in Leipzig (Germany), Gothenburg Museum of Natural History and Swedish Museum of Natural History (Sweden). Here we revise all type specimens of nematodes from the A. Looss collection that are currently preserved in the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Strongylus subtilis, Sclerostomum edentatum, S. vulgare, Cyathostomum labratum, C. coronatum, C. bicoronatum, C. calicatum, C. alveatum, C. catinatum, C. nassatum, C. radiatum, C. elongatum, C. auriculatum, Triodontus minor, T. serratus, C. labiatum and Uncinaria polaris), designate and describe lectotypes wherever deemed necessary and provide catalogue access numbers to all type materials. We also revise all notes and drawings associated with new species that A. Looss described and provide previously unpublished pencilled sketches and ink print-ready drawings of some of these species (Strongylus subtilis, Cyathostomum poculatum, C. radiatum, C. elongatum, C. calicatum, C. auriculatum, Triodontus serratus, Trichostrongylus vitrinus and possibly Necator africanus).

Natural history collections and museums made their appearance in the Ottoman in late 19th century through various attempts to build collections through field excursions, donations and exchanges among researchers, individuals and institutions around the world. Among them, the Imperial Medical School of the Ottoman Empire, schools of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) and other American educational groups and French colleges stand out with their vast collections from various parts of the Ottoman Empire and beyond. While these museums were created and built by eminent curators and researchers, a considerable amount of work was carried out by uncredited staff and the students. The history of these museums was often obscured by catastrophic events such as the great fires in Istanbul, the passing of the curators and other administrators and, particularly, the devastating effects of the First World War. However, long-lasting commercial science objects networks and the establishment of global natural history collections and museums are still operational today, supported by scientific exchange between other countries and the Ottoman Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing an outline of the history of the natural history collections of the Ottoman Empire can shed light on the evolution of both the naturalistic movement within the Ottoman society and an embryonic scientific network around the Middle East and the rest of the world.

Natural history museums are unique spaces for interdisciplinary research and for educational innovation. Through extensive exhibits and public programming and by hosting rich communities of amateurs, students, and researchers at all stages of their careers, they provide a place-based window to focus on integration of science and discovery, as well as a locus for community engagement. At the same time, like a synthesis radio telescope, when joined together through emerging digital resources, the global community of museums (the ‘Global Museum’) is more than the sum of its parts, allowing insights and answers to diverse biological, environmental, and societal questions at the global scale, across eons of time, and spanning vast diversity across the Tree of Life. We argue that, whereas natural history collections and museums began with a focus on describing the diversity and peculiarities of species on Earth, they are now increasingly leveraged in new ways that significantly expand their impact and relevance. These new directions include the possibility to ask new, often interdisciplinary questions in basic and applied science; inform biomimetic design; and even provide solutions to climate change, global health and food security challenges. As institutions, they are incubators for cutting-edge research in biology and simultaneously protect core infrastructure for present and future societal needs. In this perspective, we discuss challenges to the realization of the full potential of natural history collections and museums to serve society. After reviewing collections and types of museums, including local and global efforts, we discuss the value of specimens and the importance of observations. We then focus on mapping and modelling of museum data (including place-based approaches and discovery), and explore the main projects, platforms and databases enabling this. We also explore ways in which improved infrastructure will allow higher quality science and increased opportunities for interdisciplinary research and communication, as well as new uses of collections. Finally, we aim to improve relevant protocols for the long-term storage of specimens and tissues, ensuring proper connection with tomorrow’s technologies and hence further increasing the relevance of natural history museums.

In 1844, the celebrated Dutch author Everhardus Johannes Potgieter (1808-1875) published his criticism of the Rijksmuseum (national museum) in De Gids , which at the time was the most important cultural periodical. The chapter describes the exceptional situation in the Netherlands regarding history and art - and thus museums - and sketch the history of the Dutch national art museums in Amsterdam and The Hague until 1844. The first national museum - the Nationale Konst-Gallerij (national art gallery) - opened its doors in May 1800. It was housed in the west wing of a former palace of the princes of Orange, Huiten Bosch (house in the wood), near The Hague. During the Kingdom of Holland (1806-1810) - under Louis Napoleon, the brother of Napoleon - the national museum's collection was moved from The Hague to Amsterdam, where it was housed on the third floor of the Royal Palace and called the Royal Museum. Keywords: Amsterdam; De Gids ; Everhardus Johannes Potgieter; Louis Napoleon; national museum; Nationale Konst-Gallerij; Rijksmuseum; Royal Museum; The Hague

Museums housing cultural artifacts have long faced restitution claims while these are only beginning to affect natural history museums. Conversely, the law on cultural property restitution does not reflect a such distinction. This article examines the puzzling disconnect between cultural museums and natural history museums regarding restitution, and the comprehensive legal framework that governs it. By developing a genealogy of today’s museum landscape that builds on Foucault’s The Order of Things and Discipline and Punish, the article understands museums as institutions that constitute and enforce a given structure of knowledge and permit exercising control over the material world. Either function is contingent on a historical period’s epistemic configuration, and changes therein are key to understanding why eclectic Renaissance collections, the famous Wunderkammern or cabinets of curiosities, disintegrated into disciplinary museums. Understanding the genealogy of museum diversification is essential for critically approaching and eventually overcoming the false dichotomy between natural history and cultural museums regarding restitution.

1. Time Line In 2011: The Agency for Cultural Affairs launched the "Committee for Salvaging Cultural Properties Affected by the 2011 Earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku and Related Disasters," which included the National Museum of Nature and Science and the National Council of Science Museums as members, but not a scientist team. The committee's activities started focusing on cultural heritage under the "Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties." This Japanese law covers a limited range of cultural heritage, such as artworks and historic properties, but not scientific collections. Conservation of museum collections is clearly stated in the "Museum Act," but there is no emergency response system. NMNS could not react with agility to the disaster at this time. The West Japan Natural History Museum Network (WJNHMN), which is located in Osaka, far from the disaster area, started to seek its own rescue and salvage activities with the Iwate Prefectural Museum, which is located inland of Iwate prefecture and a safe location from tsunamis (Tokyo and Tsukuba also had some damage, especially early on). Iwate Prefectural Museum was also slightly damaged, and suffered from an electric outage and gas shortage. The museum served as a regional rescue center for damaged museums in coastal areas. Salvage activities were started mainly based on personal networks and voluntary activities by many museum workers throughout Japan. Soon after, WJNHMN began collaborating with the Committee, exchanging both information and techniques for stabilisation and restoration of natural history materials. In 2014: After the major stabilization process had ceased, the Committee was reformed as the "Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Management Network Promotion Council" and their membership expanded to encompass the conservation of a wider range of cultural and natural heritage properties from disasters. WJNHMN and The Japanese Council of University Museums joined as formal members. The Council is made up of professional organizations in various fields and cooperates in gathering information and providing joint rescue activities. In 2016: The earthquake in Kumamoto prefecture damaged the Kumamoto City Museum (2017), Aso Volcano Museum and several other small museums. At first, local government lacked information about natural history collections, but it turned out that most were safe. In 2020: The Council developed "Disaster Response Guidelines" to expand conservation targets, to aid local government officials. In the guideline, natural history collections are clearly defined as their conservation target. The Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Management Center, Japan was established to serve as the Council's headquarters. In 2021: During the flooding of the Kuma-River in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto, 32,000 herbarium sheets were soaked by muddy water at the Hitoyoshi Castle History Museum. At the direction of the Council, the National Museum of Nature and Science, and WJNHMN coordinated and distributed the specimens to 35 institutions across the country within a month (Ebihara and Sakuma 2024). In 2024: Initially after the earthquake of Noto-Peninsula, there was no news of damage to natural history collections. However, six months later, one of the local museums had to move its collection to another place. 2. Current challenges and targets The Council improved the disaster response step by step. We have identified some challenges for further improvement of disaster preparedness of Japanese natural history collections and museums. Preparation for initial activities. Some academic societies had discussed the guidelines for emergency financial support to react to disasters. In the case of rescue works of 2011, there were no supporting funds for natural history, which relied entirely on the voluntary initiatives of institutes, museums and individuals. We obtained support from private funds after the flooding of 2021. With the activities of the reformed Council, information about the damaged museums and properties were communicated soon after the disasters, among those in the organization, which was a much improved response compared to the 2011 earthquake (Sakuma 2017). Materials reserved for specimen rescue (e.g., cardboard boxes, freezer bags, oxygen absorber, ethanol) and advanced funding, are key to a more rapid initial response and for better conservation. Storage deficit. Many specimens are stored in unstable conditions in many museums, with poor documentation and inventory, which makes it difficult to salvage and rescue items once disaster happens. Lack of understanding of the value of natural history collections by local governments, administrative personnel, and local cultural property personnel delays time-sensitive responses to disasters in both in the damaged area, as well as in the area where rescue and salvage teams are dispatched. This understanding needs to be developed before the disaster, at both the administrative level and by citizens. Support for the restoration process. After a disaster, there are some issues related to the re-building of museums and resumption of their activities, which are difficult, even though specimens are undamaged. This is especially difficult if there is no museum curator to support these activities. In the case of the Rikuzentakata City Museum, many supporters and museums provided assistance during its reopening process. Preparation for initial activities. Some academic societies had discussed the guidelines for emergency financial support to react to disasters. In the case of rescue works of 2011, there were no supporting funds for natural history, which relied entirely on the voluntary initiatives of institutes, museums and individuals. We obtained support from private funds after the flooding of 2021. With the activities of the reformed Council, information about the damaged museums and properties were communicated soon after the disasters, among those in the organization, which was a much improved response compared to the 2011 earthquake (Sakuma 2017). Materials reserved for specimen rescue (e.g., cardboard boxes, freezer bags, oxygen absorber, ethanol) and advanced funding, are key to a more rapid initial response and for better conservation. Storage deficit. Many specimens are stored in unstable conditions in many museums, with poor documentation and inventory, which makes it difficult to salvage and rescue items once disaster happens. Lack of understanding of the value of natural history collections by local governments, administrative personnel, and local cultural property personnel delays time-sensitive responses to disasters in both in the damaged area, as well as in the area where rescue and salvage teams are dispatched. This understanding needs to be developed before the disaster, at both the administrative level and by citizens. Support for the restoration process. After a disaster, there are some issues related to the re-building of museums and resumption of their activities, which are difficult, even though specimens are undamaged. This is especially difficult if there is no museum curator to support these activities. In the case of the Rikuzentakata City Museum, many supporters and museums provided assistance during its reopening process.