WEBINAR: The Hustedt Collection in Berlin: History, Current Status, and Future Perspectives

The Hustedt Collection in Berlin: History, Current Status, and Future Perspectives

Description: The Hustedt Collection, today housed at the Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum (BGBM), is the world’s largest and historically most significant diatom collection, comprising >100,000 permanent slides, tens of thousands of raw samples, and a rich library. The presentation traces the century-long journey of this collection, from Friedrich Hustedt’s private archive in Bremen to its transfer from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) to Berlin in 2024, and highlights ongoing efforts to stabilize, reorganize, and digitize this invaluable resource. It offers an overview of the collection’s scientific significance and the challenges of integrating and curating its vast material while outlining the development of a digital infrastructure that will ensure long-term accessibility for the global research community. Finally, the talk provides a practical roadmap for engaging with the collection and invites joint projects that connect historical materials with contemporary scientific questions.

Intended audience: For researchers, curators, and students interested in diatom taxonomy, biodiversity, and collection digitization, linking historical materials with modern scientific collaboration.