Publication
Photo: Deutsches Museum
Portrait Collection
Since its founding, the museum has built up an extensive collection of portraits. In the museum’s early exhibitions, numerous portraits were displayed alongside the artefacts. They were intended to preserve ‘the memory of the pioneering researchers and engineers’ for posterity.
Der Unternehmer Hermann Gruson (1821–1895). Ölgemälde von Franz von Lenbach. Signatur: PT10585. Photo: Deutsches Museum
A Resource for Research
Today, the collection comprises over 12,500 individual items.
It consists of:
- Oil paintings
- Prints
- Drawings
- Photographs
Portrait albums, which bring together numerous scientists from a single discipline, are a valuable source. These include the collections of the chemist Georg Krause, the mathematician Carl Gottfried Neumann and the botanist Gregor Kraus. Portrait albums have also been preserved in various estates – such as that of the chemist August Kekulé von Stradonitz – which allow us to draw conclusions about the networks of researchers. Group portraits, most of which were taken on the occasion of national and international congresses, are also of interest.