Lichtgedanken 05

Rubrik 62 T H R E E Q U E S T I O N S T O Dr Tilde Bayer Special Representative for Collections at the University Jena How often does the University loan out the objects from its collections to external partners? When you put everything together, there are at least two dozen lending operations each year. And one lending operation can contain several exhibits. Are there items that are loaned out on a regular basis? The map of the City of Nippur from the Hilprecht Collection has been loaned out many times and is always in de- mand. However, it will not be leaving the collection again because of preserva- tion reasons. Generally speaking, we do not receive enquiries because of a speci- fic or several objects, it is rather because of the diversity of our collections. What role does the physical exch- ange of exhibits still play in today’s »digital age«? A huge role! Now so more than ever museums need to attract visitors by offering interesting special exhibitions – it is not so easy just with permanent exhibitions. Nowadays digitalization makes it pos- sible to research exhibits for possible exhibitions in databases. These data- bases provide an insight into the items available. An »online visit« can also give the interested public an impressi- on of the items, but it does not repla- ce the sensory experience that you get from visiting a museum with real ob- jects and exhibits. This clay tablet is almost 3,500 years old and is the »oldest city map in the world«. It shows the layout of the City of Nippur in Ancient Mesopotamia, which lies in the present-day Iraq. The tablet from the Hilprecht Collection is an exhibition piece that is in global demand. Current items on loan include... • five objects from the Ernst Haeckel Haus, including the Monistenbund chest (Hygiene Museum, Dresden) and Haeckel’s family tree from 1874 (Musée d’art et du Judaisme, Paris) • seven objects from the Collection of Classical Antiquities (Louvre, Paris; see p. 56) • seven objects from the Museum Ana- tomicum Jenense (Hygiene Museum, Dresden) • two objects from the Hilprecht Collec- tion (Hygiene Museum, Dresden) • one object from the Astronomical Collection (Hygiene Museum, Dres- den); this is the first photograph of a total solar eclipse on 28th July 1851.