Historical Library of Veterinary Anatomy
The Division of Veterinary Anatomy houses a collection of historical books comprising around 650 monographs and textbooks on anatomy and related subjects. The books mainly date from 1890 to 1964.
The library is available to interested visitors as a reference library (Catalogue_Historical_Library). For inquiries, please contact PD Dr. Karl Klisch, +41 31 684 22 05, karl.klisch@unibe.ch.
History
Anatomy thrives on images. The teaching of anatomy at the Bern School of Veterinary Medicine, which existed from 1805 to 1900, was conducted in close collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine.
The first lecturer was Professor Karl Friedrich Emmert (1780–1834, in office 1806–1834), who simultaneously held a professorship in obstetrics and surgery at the Faculty of Medicine. A transcript of his anatomy lectures from 1812 has been preserved and can be consulted at the State Archives of Bern under the reference BB 05.10.3231. His successor was the physician Friedrich Andreas Gerber (1797–1872, in office 1820–1869). Gerber invented a photographic technique similar to the daguerreotype. Together with the lithographer and sculptor Joseph Volmer, he began publishing an anatomical atlas of the horse in 1832, which, unfortunately, was never completed. Our library holds a collection of individual plates from this atlas under the reference 32-15.
Up until 1890, only a few books were preserved, as the libraries of the veterinary and human anatomy institutes were managed jointly, and lecturers typically stayed in Bern for only short periods. Of special note are the watercolor plates of the horse’s inner ear by Prof. Max Flesch (1852–1943, in office 1882–1887) (references 32-13 and 32-27).
With the appointment of Oskar Rubeli (1861–1952, in office 1887–1931) as Professor of Veterinary Anatomy, teaching in anatomy gained continuity. The instruction of anatomy was separated from the Faculty of Medicine and became part of the School of Veterinary Medicine, which, from 1900 onwards, became a full faculty of the University of Bern. The library was expanded with numerous standard works and monographs, of which 350 titles have been preserved.
Like Rubeli, his successor Hermann Ziegler (1894–1970, in office 1923–1964) served for many years. From his tenure, 200 titles and numerous notes, as well as drawings for his publications and dissertations, remain (references 32-35 to 32-46). With the relocation of the Animal Hospital and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to new buildings in Länggasse in 1965, the libraries were reorganized. Thus, the Historical Library of the Division of Veterinary Anatomy mainly contains titles published before 1964.
(Text by Stephan Häsler)
