Body and Science: Semmelweis University’s Hidden Specimens

The Anatomy Museum at the Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology of Semmelweis University is known mainly to medical students, although it is not only interesting for education and science, but also as a historically important collection of period documents. The institute housing the museum began its course in 1769/70 in the Trinitarian monastery of Trnava, and after moving to Buda and several locations in Pest, it finally settled in its present location in Tűzoltó Street. It survived two world wars, the plumbing in the building froze in the winter of 1944, and there still are cupboards in the institute that show signs of wartime scorching, which also affected the preparations.