History and highlights of the teratological collection in theNarrenturm, Vienna (Austria)

Abstract

The collection of the Narrenturm in Vienna houses and maintains more than 50,000 objects including approximately 1200 teratological specimens; making it one of the biggest collections of specimens from human origin in Europe. The existence of this magnificent collection―representing an important resource for dysmorphology research, mostly awaiting contemporary diagnoses―is not widely known in the scientific community. Here, we show that the Narrenturm harbors a wealth of specimens with (exceptionally) rare congenital anomalies. These museums can be seen as physical repositories of human malformation, covering hundreds of years of dedicated collecting and preserving, thereby creating unique settings that can be used to expand our knowledge of developmental conditions that have to be preserved for future generations of scientists.