Among other specimens, the Zoological Collection at the Institute of Biology at Freie Universität contains human remains. Since 2021 a provenance research project has been critically dealing with the origin and history of these skulls and bones. Now Vanessa Hava Schulmann, a human biologist and head of the project, has put together a seminar series intended to include the general public in a debate on this issue. 

Ms. Schulmann, can you tell us something about the human remains in the Zoological Collection?

The collection contains about twenty human skulls and five almost complete human skeletons, in addition to a number of separate bones. In the past they were used at Freie Universität as a matter of course for teaching purposes in human biology. Ethical standards have changed in science, and we have become increasingly critical of using human bones.

In most cases we do not know where the bones came from. It is doubtful, whether the people willingly gave their consent for their remains to be used for scientific purposes. In Berlin in particular, we should be on guard in this matter because research here has very often been linked to the history of colonialism and National Socialism. In both of these contexts, numerous crimes were committed in the name of science. 

Even though Freie Universität was not founded until 1948, the university is still part of this history because it took over numerous buildings formerly used by the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, which was succeeded by the Max Planck Society. For example, the building at Ihne Strasse 22 in Dahlem, currently used by the university’s Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, housed the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics until 1945.

Since 2021 we have been working hard to critically examine the origin of the human remains in our collections and to conduct an ethical debate about their history and future. 

Could you describe the context for the reappraisal?

In November 2021 instructors in human biology at Freie Universität set up a provenance research project. I became involved in the project while I was a student, and in September 2023, I was appointed its head. Unfortunately, clarifying the origin of the bones is proving to be very difficult. 

In the course of our ongoing work, we have confirmed a colonial context for two human bones. Other bones also have a colonial history, for example, so-called “teaching skeletons,” which we keep at Freie Universität. They are standing skeletons used in anatomy lessons, similar to those often seen in old films. They are actually human remains, which at one time were obtained through regular teaching supplies stores. Trade with human remains is interwoven with British colonial history; human bodies from India were used worldwide.

Are there skeletons from India in the collections at Freie Universität?

Yes. The biology department at Freie Universität bought them from a company that purchased human bones from traders in India.

Why did this particular trade develop in India?

The origin for this trade lies in British colonial rule. In the nineteenth century, medical schools in Great Britain were already complaining that they needed more human bodies for teaching anatomy. Europeans rarely donated their bodies to science due to religious and social taboos. The lack of bodies led to grave robbery and even murder in the name of anatomy, so Great Britain mandated legal interventions. The continued lack of bodies for science found an opportunity in colonial India, where an infrastructure was created for obtaining bodies. 

This trade still exists, though it is now illegal. It has to do with the remains of people who were “found dead” or were “pulled out of the river.” I have heard these descriptions used by researchers and teaching faculty. There are also sources that describe grave robbery or kidnapping. The export of human remains was legal in India until 1985. That is how stolen bodies found their way into international science well into the twentieth century. It most likely applies to those purchased by Freie Universität.

As part of the research project, you are now holding a series of seminars that are open to the public. What issues do you want to discuss there?

The seminars are open to everyone. They are intended to provide a foundation for discussing how human remains are handled at our institute and beyond. We will take an in-depth look at the history of individual remains, for example, the history of a preserved brain from the former Anatomy Institute.

In addition, several guest lectures were planned to provide insight into the history of human biological research in a colonial context. Israel Kaunatjike, who is himself a descendant of the Herero, will speak about the German genocide committed against the Herero and Nama. Mnyaka Sururu Mboro and Merel Fuchs will speak about how the search for ancestors in Berlin collections is carried out.

What possibilities do you see for dealing with the remains?

That is a very complex issue. The remains at the Institute of Biology at Freie Universität have not been actively used in teaching for quite some time. At the very latest, once the provenance research project started, human remains were banned from being used in teaching biology because it was not possible to adequately answer questions about their origin and consent.

A decision still needs to be made as to how to deal with the human remains. Depending on the context, very different options are being discussed, for example, burial, repatriation, or storage in the teaching collection, with or without use in teaching. For example, if burial is conceivable in a certain case, it would still be necessary to consider which ritual should be used. Do we know enough about the person to be able to assess that? In addition, burial would prevent further research in the future, which might be of interest if new information or technologies became available. In the latter case, especially with regard to invasive methods, careful considerations would need to be made as to the necessity for or ethics of additional research.

When I write my final report for the provenance research project, I will include recommendations for action to be submitted to the Institute of Biology. I intend to include opinions from the seminar series. I think it is an issue that concerns everyone, and therefore I would like to speak to as many people as possible before making my recommendations.

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Dennis Yücel conducted the interview. The original German version appeared in campus.leben, the online magazine published by Freie Universität Berlin.