Step back in time to an era of ancient remedies and curious cures. The Apotheken-Museum in Dortmund stands before us. It is a portal to the fascinating world of pharmacy’s past.
Welcome to the Apotheken-Museum. This museum presents over 6000 exhibits. It is designed to resemble a historical pharmacy. The Apotheken-Museum opened in September 2017. It offers charm, atmosphere, and expertise.
Inside the Apotheken-Museum, discover a library with 600 old books. Marvel at a collection of over 200 mortars. The oldest dates back to around 650 AD. Explore an office with protected furnishings from the late 19th century.
A material chamber displays travel and ship pharmacies. See technical equipment and old aids. These include breast pumps and baby bottles. Discover earthenware healing water jugs and pharmacy saints. Some pieces are over 2000 years old.
The Apotheken-Museum’s laboratory showcases distillation equipment. Sterilization cabinets and ovens are also on display. Visitors can view water filters and microscopes. These were used to examine raw materials. They also made ointments, pills, suppositories, and tablets.
In the storage rooms, find hundreds of bottles and porcelain vessels. These held ingredients used by pharmacists. The Apotheken-Museum shows various enema syringes. There is also a hot water bottle collection and a tincture press.
The herb chamber impresses with wooden tea boxes from the last three centuries. See botany drums and herbariums. A herb mill and cutting tools complete the herb chamber. These were used for processing medicinal herbs.
Especially noteworthy is the Apotheken-Museum’s fayence collection. Admire the pharmacist’s oven and a recipe collection book. A Chinese pocket pharmacy and pepper measures are on display. They come all the way from South America.
The Adler Apotheke Museum is dedicated to North Rhine-Westphalia’s oldest pharmacy. The Adler Apotheke was first mentioned in documents in 1322. The Apotheken-Museum can trace its owners back 500 years. The 130 square meter Adler Apotheke Museum resides in the building’s deep cellars. It holds over 6000 different exhibits. The facility is a listed building.
The Apotheken-Museum recreates an old pharmacy. Visitors can explore the sales room and the library. Discover the mortar collection and material chamber. See the laboratory, storage room, and herb chamber. Drawers and cabinets still contain medicines and bandages. These are from long-gone eras.
The office is the room patients recognize as a pharmacy. A typical office from around 1890 features oak furniture. It comes from the former Lu00f6wen Apotheke in Remscheid. Many glass and porcelain vessels fill the space. A decorative shelf wall from 1650 originates from the Einhorn Apotheke in Gelnhausen.
The Apotheken-Museum displays animal parts on the ceiling and walls. These “Animalia” were once processed into medicines. Animal teeth treated stabbing pains. Bear fur was used against hair loss. Human brain was believed to cure epilepsy.
Glazed breast pumps from after 1750 are exhibited. Excavations of old North Italian baby bottles are here. Baby milk bottles made of tin and glass feature in the infant nutrition collection. Healing water jugs from around 1900 are present. They indicate the unhealthy drinking water of that time.
Experience the evolution of medicine. The Apotheken-Museum preserves our rich pharmaceutical history. Don’t miss this unique journey into the past.