The Lost Art of Wax Moulages: Preserving Valuable Artistic Crafts

With over 2,000 objects, the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden (DHMD) owns one of the world's largest collections of life-like wax replicas of diseases. These so-called "moulages" were used as exhibits for public viewing in Dresden around 1900.
Today these culturally and medical-historically important objects can be found in museum and university collections throughout Europe. And they are in serious danger. It is necessary to develop new, specialized preservation concepts to safeguard these objects for the future.
The goal of this KUR project was to develop an innovative method to preserve and restore moulages using the objects in the collection at the DHMD. The project created standards and guidelines for preserving and restoring moulages and initiated specialized continuing education courses for restorers.


Project administrator:
German Hygiene Museum Foundation in Dresden

Cooperative partners:
Berlin Medical Historical Museum at the Berlin Charité
Doerner Institute, Munich
Hornemann Institute at the HAWK, Hildesheim
Restoration department of the Bavarian National Museum, Munich
Degree programme "Art Technology, Conservation and Restoration of Artistic and Cultural Assets" at the HfBK in Dresden