Exhibition Opening “A German (?) Expedition to Maluku”

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In 1910, participation in the “Second Freiburg Moluccas Expedition” took the aspiring zoologist Erwin Stresemann to various islands of the Indonesian archipelago for two years. He documented this research trip to Southeast Asia in several diaries. Today, they form part of Stresemann’s estate in the LMU University Archives.

His estate contains a wealth of diverse records from the expedition. These include, among other things, correspondence, cartographic sketches, and linguistic vocabulary collections—written on slips of paper and strung together on threads and wires—which were intended to aid in the later compilation of dictionaries. But how did the German expedition members go about obtaining coveted information and objects in the Moluccas?

Ethnologist Luisa Marten-Paschall and historian Lorenz Ullmann explore this question in their jointly curated exhibition. They highlight the power dynamics within which the expedition operated, focusing on members of the local population and representatives of the Dutch colonial power. The exhibition invites visitors to discover the multifaceted history of the expedition and its significance for the present day.

An exhibition in cooperation with the Institute of Ethnology at LMU.

Date and Location of the Exhibition Opening

• Thursday, October 29, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
• Location: Historicum, Room K 001, Schellingstraße 12, 80799 Munich

Program

• Introduction: Luisa Marten-Paschall and Lorenz Ullmann (curatorial team)
• Guest Lecture: Tamara Soukotta, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Following the event, we invite you to a reception and a guided tour of the exhibition.
Please RSVP for the exhibition opening by October 23, 2026, to: uam@ub.uni-muenchen.de