Objects
Cultural and scientific history at your fingertips: The objects in the ETH Zurich collections, with its holdings in many different disciplines, not only are of great value for teaching, scientific and historical purposes but also represent an important part of the national cultural heritage of Switzerland. Recorded and digitised systematically and made available for exhibition, teaching and research, the objects make theory and science come alive in vivid and tangible form.
Art Inventory of ETH Zurich
Some 300 works of art from sculpture and painting, primarily by Swiss artists of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, are part of the Art Inventory of ETH Zurich. In addition to paintings and busts, including portraits of well-known personalities, “Kunst am Bau” works are also available for viewing and research.
Searching and use
- A portion of the collection is accessible to all interested parties as Kunst am Bau on the entire ETH Zurich campus (Zentrum and Hönggerberg). Discover these works on an Art Walkabout.
- All works are documented in photographs. In the image catalogue E-Pics Art Inventory, you can view the objects of the collection from several vantage points, zoom in and, if legally permissible, download them in high resolution free of charge.
Collection of Scientific Instruments and Teaching Aids
The teaching and research history of ETH Zurich since its foundation is documented in an extensive collection of instruments and equipment as well as a wide array of technical aids and models. In the historical objects from various faculties, researchers and interested parties can trace the evolution of the analyses and methods employed in the engineering and natural sciences. Founded in 2019, the collection is currently under development.
- Aerodynamics: Instruments and models for the wind tunnel from the former Institute of Aerodynamics, in part from the estate of institute founder Jakob Ackeret
- Astronomy/Collection of astronomical instruments: Collection of historical instruments from the former Swiss Federal Observatory in Zurich, which traces its origins back to Rudolf Wolf, the founder of the Swiss Federal Observatory in Zurich and the ETH Library
- Electronics: Collection of various electromechanical instruments
- Geodesy and photogrammetry: Geodetic surveying instruments such as theodolites, bussolite tachymeters or planimeters, primarily from the manufacturers Kern & Co., Aarau, and Wild Heerbrugg
- Computer science: Computer collection, including ETH Zurich’s in-house developments, such as the Lilith and Ceres computers developed by Niklaus Wirth
- Mathematics: A total of 57 mathematical models, including 11 wooden models from the J. Schröder Polytechnic Working Institute, Darmstadt, and 29 more recent cardboard models by Konrad Voss
- Physics: Objects from the Institute of Physics, especially lecture experiments and an Eidophor device (a large-scale projection technology for television images developed at ETH Zurich) as well as objects from the Department for Industrial Research (AFIF)
- Geobotany: Instruments from the Rübel Geobotanical Research Institute, which was founded by Eduard August Rübel in 1918
- Miscellaneous: Smaller volumes of objects from the Institute of Energy Engineering and the former Institutes of Agriculture and Forestry, Telecommunications, Aircraft Statics and Cultural Technology as well as from the Photographic Institute
Searching and use
In a project that will continue until the end of 2021, an online catalogue that will be freely accessible to you is being created. Parts of the collection can already be viewed digitally:
- You can download the digitised material in high resolution without restriction (Public Domain Mark) from the E-Pics Collection of Scientific Instruments (360° representations and views from several directions).
- The collection of mathematical models is digitally accessible through the external page Digital Archive of Mathematical Models (DAMM) of the Technical University of Dresden.
