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All the Netherlands Leiden Museum Boerhaave

Museum Boerhaave

A former plague hospital turned medical museum.

Leiden, Netherlands

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About

Arms in jars, skeleton dioramas, and displays of medical devices draw the morbidly fascinated to Museum Boerhaave in Leiden, Netherlands. Walking through the exhibits halls filled with artifacts from the anatomical, medical, and scientific history of the Netherlands, visitors are reminded that they are mere mortals—literally. Latin phrases meant to inspire contemplation of one's own mortality are held up by a series of articulated skeletons:

"Pulvis et umbra sumus" -

We are but dust and shadow.

"Vita Brevis" -

Life is short.

And "Memento Mori" -

Remember you must die.

The museum, which is named for Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), a Dutch physician and botanist, displays over 400 years of advances in knowledge in a building that dates back to the 1500s. Originally the St. Caecilia nunnery, then a "plague hospital and madhouse," the historic building was converted to a university hospital in 1653. In 1720, Herman Boerhaave gave a famous series of lectures known as the "sickbed lessons," marking the beginning of clinical teaching and of the academic hospital in its modern form. In 1991, the St. Caecilia nunnery took its current form as a museum, where displays of human pathology bring to mind a different sort of "life after death"—that of the medical specimen.

The museum also contains a wonderful collection of antique scientific instruments, natural history displays, and an old operating theater.

Related Tags

Wonder Cabinets Strange Science Pharmacy Museums Anatomy Museums Insane Asylums Medical Museums Museums Two Headed Animals Collections Instruments Of Science Anatomical Theaters

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Added By

RottenHead

Edited By

mbison, CoolCrab, Vololona

  • mbison
  • CoolCrab
  • Vololona

Published

July 23, 2009

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Sources
  • Morbid Anatomy Blog: http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2009/07/magnificent-collection-of-museum.html
  • http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event.detail&event_id=221951
  • http://www.museumboerhaave.nl
Museum Boerhaave
Lange St. Agnietenstraat 10
Leiden
Netherlands
52.161355, 4.488902
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Nearby Places

Leiden’s Wall Formulae

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miles away

Vrouwekerk

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Greccio Museum of Devotional Items

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Leiden

Leiden

Netherlands

Places 45
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Leiden’s Wall Formulae

Leiden, Netherlands

miles away

Vrouwekerk

Leiden, Netherlands

miles away

Greccio Museum of Devotional Items

Leiden, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Leiden

Leiden

Netherlands

Places 45
Stories 1

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