Wilhelm von Blandowski's inheritance in Berlin

Abstract

This article discusses Blandowski’s collections held in various libraries and museums in Berlin, Germany. Wilhelm von Blandowski (1822-1878) was a Prussian ‘Berliner’. He was born in Upper Silesia, a province of Prussia. He worked there in the mining industry and later attended lectures in natural history at the University of Berlin. Following a period in the army, he was influenced by the March Revolution in Germany in 1848. As a result, he left the civil service and migrated to Australia. Blandowski’s first approach to the Museum of Natural History in Berlin was an offer of objects, lithography and paintings ‘forwarded from the Museum of Natural History, Melbourne Australia’ in 1857. After returning to Prussia, Blandowski tried unsuccessfully to get support for publishing Australien in 142 photographischen Abbildungen. Today the Department for Historical Research of the Museum of Natural History owns more than 350 paintings as the ‘Legacy Blandowski’. The paintings illustrate Blandowski’s time in Australia, his enormous knowledge of natural history, his eye for characteristic details of objects and his ability to instruct other artists and to use their work. The text will show these aspects of Blandowski’s life and work and will give an insight into the database of Blandowski’s paintings held at the Humboldt University, Berlin.