Insights into the history of bee culture
This permanent exhibition module on the upper floor of the Dahlem manor house illuminates the life of the important beekeeper Ludwig Armbruster and, with selected pieces from his extensive collection, offers insights into the fascinating cultural history of beekeeping. The small show focuses on unusual pieces that can still be personally attributed to Armbruster's worldwide collection activities.
This includes, for example, the most diverse forms of bee-housing, including his own developments. In addition, accessories of the beekeeper's handicraft such as smokers, queen cages, a straw press as well as a large wooden spindle press from 1770 for the production of honey and wax are shown.
The person Ludwig Armbruster himself (* 1886,? 1973) also deserves special attention: The first director of the Institute for Bee Research, founded in Berlin-Dahlem in 1923, was not only a zoologist with a doctorate, but had also passed the Second State Examination as a teacher and had previously successfully completed his Catholic theology studies and worked as a vicar after his priestly ordination before he went to Berlin. His scientific work was mainly concerned with beekeeping. As the first bee researcher, Armbruster tried to reconstruct the hereditary theory of the honeybee, which was investigated by Gregor Mendel, and to use it for breeding purposes.
Nowadays, he also receives special historical recognition for his civil courage: After refusing to sign the oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler on March 2,1933, and after he had saved the life of several Jewish students with a skilled worker's certificate, which was necessary for the departure to Palestine, he was expelled from office in 1934 as a victim of Nazi arbitrary measures. It was not until 2007 that he was officially rehabilitated as a Nazi victim.
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