Sammlung für Völkerkunde

The Sammlung für Völkerkunde at the University of Göttingen is an ethnographic museum housing around 18,000 objects collected from continents across the world. The holdings include artifacts alongside graphics, paintings, archives, and photographs that document different societies.

The collection traces back to the Academic Museum founded in 1773, which Professor Johann Friedrich Blumenbach developed. He gathered objects from the South Seas and polar regions, forming the core that grew into the present-day holdings.

The collection displays objects from many different cultures and regions, showing how people have lived and continue to live around the world. Visitors can see how everyday items and artworks from various societies look and what techniques craftspeople used to create them.

The museum building is currently undergoing extensive renovation and is not open for in-person visits at this time. It is recommended to explore the digital catalogs online to get a sense of the collection before planning a visit.

The collection includes roughly 500 objects from Pacific regions that came from Captain James Cook's expeditions, serving as important records of these voyages of exploration. Additionally, the museum holds the Baron von Asch Collection, featuring cultural documents from Asia and historical Russian America.

Location: Göttingen

Inception: 1936

GPS coordinates: 51.53500,9.94083

Latest update: December 14, 2025 12:25