Hermann Klaatsch and his (sensitive) Australian legacy
Abstract
Hermann Klaatsch (1863–1916) was a Berlin-born medical doctor, comparative anatomist, and physical anthropologist. During his time in Australia (1904–1907), he also became a collector of ethnographic artifacts and a knowledgeable, interdisciplinary researcher in Indigenous society, (material) culture, language, religion, and many other facets of Indigenous life. However, he is also known for obtaining human remains from Indigenous Australians, like skulls, skeletons, and skeletal parts, in various, often unethical ways. His personal archival documents about his Australian journey, now housed in the archive of the World Cultures Department at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums in Mannheim, Germany, offer new insights into these issues. I address them here in detail and with special reference to Klaatsch’s collections in Poland today (Warsaw, Wrocław).
Fields of Study & Subjects
Australian Indigenous Culture and History
Race
Genetics
and Society
Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Prace Kulturoznawcze
- Publisher
- Uniwersytet Wrocławski
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 61–96
- Publication date
- 14 May 2026
- Language
- PL