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Applied Botany (ABC)

Second to the Economic Botany Collection (EBC) in Kew (London), the Hamburg "Applied Botany Collection" (ABC) is the world's largest collection of economically and technically important plants and parts of plants. It comprises c. 45,000 objects, some of them more than 200 years old, in several sub-collections. Everything is represented, from tiny seeds to giant fruits, infructescences and fibres, as well as known and unknown medicinal plants, wood samples and rare phytopathological preparations. The German colonial period played a major role in the creation of the collection. Therefore, mainly plants from the subtropics and tropics are represented, which were important for Hamburg's trade. But the ABC is not only of interest from a historical point of view. It also offers a rich potential for studies on changes in biodiversity, on micro-evolutionary processes and for the search for plant raw materials to replace fossil raw materials.

Photo: UHH/Franca Laufer

Carpological collection

With approximately 25,000 objects, the Carpological Collection represents a major part of the collection. Most of them are dried seeds and fruits. However, there are also about 1,000 objects preserved in alcohol or formalin. This sub-collection has its roots in the Carpological Collection of the Hamburg City Physician Heinrich Wilhelm Buek, who bequeathed it to the City of Hamburg in his last will in 1879. It formed the basis for the Hamburg Botanical Museum founded in 1883.

Photo: UHH/Franca Laufer

Plant pathological collection

Since the beginnings of the Botanical Museum, founded in 1883, there has always been a plant pathology department within the collections, which included preparations of pest infestations of crops. Questions of plant protection played a central role in Hamburg as an important port and gateway for plant pests from overseas. In 1898 a separate department for plant protection was set up, which considerably extended the Botanical Museum’s range of expertise. From its more than 100 years of research and consultancy work, around 200 objects have been preserved, including impressive preparations of pest infestations of crops.

Photo: UHH/Franca Laufer

Collection of technically used plants

Plants supplying fibres, oils, rubber or resins, as well as dyewoods or plants supplying tanning agents were of great interest to Hamburg's trade around 1900. For this reason, from 1883 on there was a separate department for these plant resources, which were essential in particular for the industries based on them in and around Hamburg.

Photo: UHH/Franca Laufer

Medicinal plant collection

The collection of medicinal plants includes the famous collection of the Hamburg pharmacist Adolph Oberdörffer from the 19th century. In total there are about 5,000 objects. In addition to a collection of cinchona bark trees, which are effective against malaria, European as well as subtropical and tropical medicinal plants are represented. The oldest objects date from the 18th century. Several recently researched medicinal plants are already present in this collection.

Photo: UHH/IPM-Archiv

Wood Collection

Already at the end of the 19th century the various types of wood, especially the tropical woods that were newly entering the market, played a major role. Their identification and classification were a highly demanded scientific service provided by the museum. The Hamburg timber trade had a vital interest in a well-equipped comparative collection in the museum. During the Second World War the main part of the extensive wood collection (10,000 objects) was transferred to the then “Reichskolonialinstitut für Weltforstwirtschaft near Hamburg, today's Thuenen-Institut”. At present, this sub-collection still comprises about 1,500 objects.