Brandenburgisches Apothekenmuseum

Description

In the historic center of Cottbus, the Brandenburgisches Apothekenmuseum offers insights into the history of pharmacy and historical apothecary installations. The museum's holdings include permanently installed dispensaries, a galenic laboratory, an herb and poison chamber, and annually changing special exhibitions; the 2022 temporary exhibition is titled “ORA ET LABORA – Hildegard von Bingen und die Klostermedizin” and is devoted to medieval remedies and treatments.

The museum complex consists of a street-facing residential and commercial building and the Alten Löwenapotheke in the courtyard; both buildings are listed as historic monuments. Its origins date back to the 16th century: the market building was already erected in the 1560s and used as a pharmacy from 1571. A city fire in 1671 severely damaged the house but largely left the cellars, workshop and laboratory intact; restoration work continued into the 1670s, and a courtyard-facing annex was added around 1700. Until the end of the 18th century the Löwen-Apotheke served as the only pharmacy in the town. Alterations took place in the 19th century; under the GDR the pharmacy was nationalized in 1951 and, at the same time, a collection documenting the history of pharmacy was assembled, which has been accessible as a museum since 1989. Pharmacy operations ended in 1984; before the museum opened the building underwent extensive renovation. It was renamed to its present designation in 2002.

Architecturally, the front building features a three-storey, four-bay rendered façade with a gabled roof and an elaborately designed stepped gable from the 18th century, crowned by a figure of Hygieia. The ground floor and the vaulted dispensary, the late-classical cabinets, a historic tiled stove and the reconstructed roof structure document the building’s architectural development. A brick-lined deep well was uncovered in the courtyard, the only historically preserved well remaining in the old town.

The displayed interiors document different periods: a 1930s pharmacy illustrates the practice of in-house preparation at the time of DAB 6 with porcelain and glass vessels; the herb and poison chamber contains wooden drawer cabinets, wooden boxes and locked poison cupboards; a GDR dispensary from the 1960s/1970s preserves original fittings and ready-made medicines; and the galenic laboratory presents distillation and firing equipment, drying ovens, a tincture press and other artisanal apparatus.