The portrait was created in 1751, shortly before Johann Roederer was appointed to work in Göttingen as an obstetrician. Demonstrating a stretched-out thumb and index finger are common indicators for the positioning of the hand during vaginal examinations of pregnant women. The bone identifies him as a doctor whose skill is based on exact anatomical …
Even though Georg von Asch had only come to Göttingen for his studies, he maintained a close relationship with the Georgia Augusta throughout his life. Due to his position as a doctor in the medical administration of the Tsarist Empire in 1763, he was able to send a multitude of objects to Göttingen. The objects …
Christian Wilhelm Büttner, who was appointed to work in Göttingen as a professor for natural science in 1763, was not only a versatile scholar but also a passionate collector. In 1773 he bequeathed the University around 12,000 objects from his natural history collection in exchange for a life annuity. The objects were collectibles gathered from …
JOHANN GEORG ROEDERER (1726–1763), Professor of Medicine, Johann Wolfgang Hauwiller, 1751, oil on canvas, Gynaecological Clinic, University of Göttingen
TYPICAL POSITIONING OF THE HAND OBSTETRICIANS USE FOR INTERNAL PELVIC MEASUREMENT, Eduard Caspar Jacob von Siebold: Images from the overall area of theoretical and practical obstetrics, Berlin 1829, panel vii, State and University Library of Göttingen
Roederer’s research and teaching methods cleared the way for instruments to be used in obstetrics. This becomes evident in his portrait when you compare the fingers of his right hand with the iron fingers of a gynaecological instrument constructed in 1775. Such instruments are equipped with a measuring mechanism intended to standardise and measure the …
GEORG THOMAS VON ASCH (1729–1807), Doctor and city-appointed Physician in St. Petersburg, Kyrill Ivanovic Golovacevskij, 1780, oil on canvas, Art collection of the University of Göttingen
MEDAL OF THE GENERAL FIELD MARSHAL Petr Aleksandrovič Rumjancev, Johann Georg Jaeger, 1774, copper, Coin cabinet, University of Göttingen
CHRISTIAN WILHELM BÜTTNER (1716–1801), Professor of Natural Science (Natural History, Anthropology, Ethnology), Conrad Westermayr (?) or Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder (workshop) (?), 1781, oil on canvas, Art collection of the University of Göttingen
WOODWARD’S HEADSTAND Büttner was a passionate collector of books. Many of his colleagues would borrow books from his library – the slip enclosed in two volumes is a library ticket belonging to the anatomist and natural scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840). While all volumes have been neatly arranged, the book by the natural scientist John …
