ABSTRACT
My interest in the topic of pesticides in museum collections began with my work at the Ethnologisches Museum (EM) at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Ethnological Museum at the National Museums in Berlin) at the end of the 1990s. As a conservator in the study collection of American Ethnology, I was responsible for the care of approximately 70,000 objects until June 2020. The items were collected from Alaska to Patagonia and brought to Berlin in various ways. Stored in many cabinets, some of which were completely overcrowded, these objects from North and South America exhibited a high diversity of organic materials, such as wood, plant fibers, feathers, skins, hide, leather, wool, and cotton, as well as works on paper and historical archival materials. Because of their material properties, all objects made of organic materials were exposed to constant danger of being attacked by plant and animal pests, as well as from molds. As the cabinets were opened, an unfamiliar smell unfolded in the supervised collection, which at once seemed pungent and sharp, yet musty sweet. In addition to the objects in the cabinets, yogurt cups and tin cans of pipe tobacco were filled from time to time with synthetic camphor by the then-collection manager to prevent against harmful insects.
