Morels

After 1945, the museum began to afford more space to mushrooms in the collection. The collection was thus expanded in many ways. Alongside plastic models and watercolours, wax models were acquired. Models are excellently suited for display and teaching purposes, as they are available regardless of the natural growth period and, no less importantly, have a much longer shelf life. Models can also demonstrate different growth phases of a fungus and thus indicate different characteristics during the fungus's development. Such characteristics are important because they allow us to assess whether and if mushrooms are edible, inedible or even poisonous. Unfortunately, the exact production method of our wax models has not been documented. However, it can be assumed that beeswax was contained in the wax mixture. The models were made by hand and then painted. The base plate was designed using natural, dried materials. Wax models are unfortunately susceptible to fluctuations in temperature and therefore can currently only be exhibited rarely.