This page documents stewardship of historical anatomical material, including the Hochstetter collection, its care within institutional settings, and transfers undertaken to ensure long-term preservation and access.
Author context: Oscar Baldomero — custodial stewardship of historical anatomical preparations and related institutional transfers.
Contents
A central thread in this work is the anatomical collection assembled by Professor Arthur von Hochstetter. The collection reflects a tradition of anatomical preparation developed for teaching and reference, spanning multiple techniques, specimen types, and historical periods.
The collection’s long-term stewardship was made explicit through von Hochstetter’s will, which documented his intention that Oscar Baldomero should assume responsibility for the care and future disposition of the collection. This formal arrangement provided clarity of custodial responsibility and reflected a shared commitment to preserving the educational and historical value of the material.
Note on scope: This site does not attempt to catalogue the collection in full. Its purpose is historical documentation: how the material was preserved, interpreted, and transferred, and why certain specimens matter in the history of anatomy and anatomical preparation.
Substantial parts of the collection have been curated and maintained within Roche in Basel. In this context, the collection has also served an educational role. Oscar Baldomero was frequently asked by Roche to give guided tours and talks to visiting groups—often composed of Roche staff—introducing the history, preparation methods, and significance of anatomical specimens.
A critical person within Roche has been Alexander Bieri, Curator of the Roche Collections and Archives. His support has been central in enabling conservation work, documentation, and the practical steps required for responsible transfers of selected specimens to other institutions.
Selected specimens from the Hochstetter collection were transferred to Riga to ensure long-term preservation and institutional access for research and teaching. Alexander Bieri organised and funded the restoration work required for the specimens prior to transfer and coordinated transportation and institutional engagement.
For the transportation process, the Swiss Ambassador in Riga was involved, as well as Professor Aigars Pētersons, Rector of Rīga Stradiņš University. These steps were central to the successful completion of the transfer and the establishment of a sustainable institutional home for the selected material.
The majority of the collection remains at Roche. Over the next two to three years, Oscar Baldomero is engaged in selecting approximately one hundred specimens for donation to the Roche historical archive. He was explicitly asked to make this a personal selection and to provide written notes for each specimen, explaining why it was chosen and outlining its historical significance within anatomy or the history of anatomical preparation.
This work is intended to create an accessible, curated subset of the collection that can be preserved within Roche as part of its institutional history, while retaining the intellectual context that gives individual specimens their meaning.
A separate image stream with photographs and short notes on anatomical preparations is maintained here: facebook.com/anatomicalhistory. This is provided as an optional external resource.
Practical note: External platforms can change their layout and access rules. The core narrative on this site is intended to remain stable and readable independent of third-party services.
If you later wish, this page can be extended with a short “selected specimens” list (10–20 entries) without becoming a full catalogue.