Warning: This post contains images of historical surgical instruments, as well as pictures depicting diseases. For those who are sensitive, this can be quite a shocking sight.
As a student I worked every summer holiday. I usually went abroad, because the 2 - 3 months seasonal work in my home country was not very well paid. Besides, I was attracted to the unknown, I wanted to learn the language and other cultures. I usually went to Germany or Switzerland. I had the grate pleasure to get to know both countries quite well, but it was Switzerland that I fell in love. I lived near Zurich, in Wollerau. As Zurich was very close - I went there very often on small one-day trips. Usually I had some general plan, but almost always on the way I found something much more interesting. So, one day, by pure chance, I ended up at the University's Museum of the History of Medicine.
The exhibition is not open to regular visitors, so I was very lucky to find such a day. The number of displays is absolutely staggering!
The exhibition rooms are arranged chronologically, so that one can trace the history of medicine from the ancient times up to the present. The exhibits include not only surgical instruments and medicines, but also rooms furnished in the style of the period. We can see the interior of a doctor's office, the interior of a house with a - warning!- birthing chair. There are also instruments for examining the eyes, as well as a dentist's chair with drills which were driven by the power of one's own muscles! Becouse the pictures are very graphic, I have added a lot of pictures of eyeglasses from old times in order not to stress you too much with macabre views of these, so to say, instruments of torture.
It is very difficult for me to say what interested me the most, but I know for sure that I was permanently in shock after this exhibition. Many of the procedures and operations carried out, less than 100 years ago were just doomed to failure. Not only because of the lack of hygiene, but also because of imperfect tools. Don't get me wrong - I am truly in awe of the development of science, and all, but as we all know, it learns best from its mistakes. And historically, there have been an alarming number of those in medicine. I was appalled at how many children and women died in childbirth, how many people died from a simple tooth or ear infection, how it was possible to be burnt by X-ray apparat, etc.
Today I am showing you some of the pictures from this exhibition, some of which I think are a little less shocking, although you may still feel uncomfortable looking at them. I hope, however, that this will be an informative post and shed some light on the infamous past of European medicine.
Hope you Guys are well,
yours,
Strega Azure
Doctors Office
Traditional Swiss House
Domestic birth delivery chair
Some of the first successful X-rays and radiation burns
Surgical instrument cases, often used for home visits, most often in remote villages where there was no regular access to doctors
Rest your eyes - look at those cool glasses!
Not all about eyes is easy for eyes;/
Dentist Chair
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