Many universities in Germany are centuries old. Their institutes, labs and clinics are treasure troves of historical objects, from eighteenth-century gynaecological instruments and nineteenth-century wax moulages of diseases used for clinical teaching, to pathology specimens spanning 300 years. Often these collections are locked away in dark and dusty cellars. There is little space for scholars to work with them, or for the public to view them. The riches are hidden. A huge opportunity to change this situation has arisen with the recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities on using scientific collections for broader research (see Nature 470,5-6; 2011).
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