Provenienz und Geschichte der Ethnologischen Sammlung Mylau/Reichenbach

The two natural history associations in the towns of Mylau and Reichenbach started to create extensive ethnological collections at the end of the 19th century. The origin of a significant portion of these cultural artefacts dates back to the former German colonies in Africa and Oceania.

Research is being conducted into the provenance of 112 artefacts originating from Africa (Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon and South Africa etc.) within the project and this primarily involves highlighting how they were acquired, how the items found their way into the collections and the people involved in this process. This includes determining any suspicious facts related to cases of colonial injustice and performing in-depth research.

Most of the artefacts in the collections from both natural history associations have been located at the Museum of Ethnology in Dresden since the 1980s.

Research is therefore being conducted into the interaction and later handing over of artefacts and parts of the collections to the Museum of Ethnology in Dresden too. This particularly involves looking at the transactions performed by the Mylau Castle Local History Museum to Dresden as part of the centralisation efforts in former East Germany.

The project also includes setting up a network with the communities of origin and institutions such as museums, universities and archives in the countries of origin. This network is designed to form the basis for joint research into the cultural artefacts and establish a long-term cooperation arrangement with people from the communities of origin and academic partners in the countries of origin.

The State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony are a cooperation partner in the project.

(c) Mylau Castle Museum