Physicalisches Cabinet
Historical measuring instruments and experimental apparatus from Göttingen physics, displayed at the entrance to the lecture halls of the Faculty of Physics.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The collection goes back to instruments that Georg Christoph Lichtenberg assembled in the 18th century for experimental physics in Göttingen. The pieces were later moved from the Michaelishaus to the new physics building on Bunsenstraße, where they survived almost 250 years largely intact in a basement with its own natural climate control.
With the faculty's move into the new building on the North Campus, the collection found its present home in 2003: the "Physicalisches Cabinet" at the entrance to the lecture halls. It shows selected exhibits from classical experimental physics, astrophysics and geophysics, as well as pieces from the birth of quantum mechanics.
The objects span more than 275 years of Göttingen physics history, from Lichtenberg through Wilhelm Weber and Carl Friedrich Gauss to developments of the 1920s. One display case is devoted to the experimental physicist Robert Wichard Pohl and his teaching collection. Individual pieces, including a replica of Gauss's vice-heliotrope, can also be seen at the Forum Wissen; there is also a virtual tour.
Highlights
- Instruments owned by Lichtenberg and from the early Göttingen experimental physics
- Exhibits on the birth of quantum mechanics
- Display case on Robert Wichard Pohl and his teaching collection
- Objects on Weber and Gauss, including a replica of the vice-heliotrope
- Virtual tour available online
Permanent exhibition
- Sammlung historischer physikalischer Instrumente – Historical measuring instruments and experimental apparatus from experimental physics, astrophysics and geophysics, plus pieces from early quantum mechanics.
- Operated by
- Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (I. Physikalisches Institut)
Admission & discounts
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Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
By public transit
Tammannstraße · 5-min walk
From the train station/central bus station (ZOB) by bus lines 21, 22 (toward Nikolausberg) or 23 (toward Faßberg) to the "Tammannstraße" stop on the North Campus; during the day roughly every 30 minutes, travel time about 13 minutes.
Access via the main entrance/porter's lodge from Tammannstraße or Friedrich-Hund-Platz. By car via the A7, exit Göttingen-Nord (No. 72), follow the access road to the edge of town, then Robert-Koch-Straße and Goldschmidtstraße.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Good to know | Outside opening hours, visits by request. During the Göttingen Days of Open Collections there are guided tours and small experiments. A virtual tour is available online. |
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Museums nearby
Museum der Göttinger Chemie
Geowissenschaftliches Museum der Universität Göttingen
Humanembryologische Dokumentationssammlung Blechschmidt
Abgußsammlung des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Göttingen
Kunstsammlung der Universität Göttingen
