Leseprobe

History of the production of the Transparent At the same time, the production of Transparent Figures was ex- panded. In 1950, the Minister for Work and Health, Luitpold Steidle (1898–1984), called for the construction of a Transparent Horse and a Transparent Cow at the DHMD. 36 These were to serve as veterinary teaching models and further stimulate the sale of Transparent Fig- ures. While the DHMD possessed a great deal of expertise in the production of human models, new templates had to be formulated and experts recruited for the animal models. The first animal model, the Transparent Horse, was already planned as of 1950. The veteri- narian Prof. Erich Schwarze (1897–1964) and the taxidermist Rudolf Petzold (1906–1979), who were employed at the Institute of Veteri- nary Medicine of the University of Leipzig, were recruited as experts for animal anatomy. Petzold created a concept for the set-up and manufacture. 37 A mare was killed and dissected for the templates for the skin, bones and organs. The manufacturing process for the Trans- parent Cow, which was explained in detail by Wolfgang Kuntzsch in his own publication, progressed in a similar fashion. 38 The Transparent Horse was presented for the first time, following manufacturing delays, in 1956 on the occasion of the celebrations of the 750th anniversary of the city of Dresden. The first Transparent Cow was manufactured three years later. However, due to the signif- icantly higher production costs and the rather limited demand in the very specialised fields, the two animal models could only establish themselves within limits. A total of six horses and nine cows were produced. Fig. 5 Manufacture of Transparent Figures in the Cellon workshop of the museum, photograph, ca. 1949–1953, inv. no. 2018/705.1 23