Darmstadt Dioramas
During the construction of the museum building, ahead of its opening in 1906, the 10 zoological dioramas were developed in close collaboration by the architect Alfred Messel and then curator of zoology Gottlieb von Koch. Taxidermist Karl Küsthardt began working on the dioramas, or so-called ‘Tiergeographische Gruppen’ , in 1898. The six younger dioramas displaying European habitats include detailed landscape elements. The four dioramas representing South America, Africa, Asia and Australia & New Zealand, however, are based on more schematic landscapes and present the fauna of an entire continent in an exemplary way. This abstract form of display did not aim to provide the illusion of a natural environment and was considered revolutionary at the time. Although some damage occurred during World War II, the dioramas at Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt largely remain preserved in their original state and are thus a sole of its kind.
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