Senckenberg Exhibition Highlights Women in Natural Science Research

The Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt will open a new special exhibition, "Secret Service: Women in Natural Science Research," on September 25, 2026. The exhibition will explore the lives and work of eleven women whose significant contributions to natural science research, spanning from the 17th to the 20th centuries, have often gone unrecognized.

The exhibition features both well-known pioneers, such as the entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian and the founder of paleoneurology Tilly Edinger, alongside previously lesser-known figures. This includes Aenny Fahr, an animal photographer and herpetologist who documented a 1914 expedition to Spitsbergen. Historian Dr. Luisa Kapp, who researched the biographies for the exhibition, emphasizes the goal of highlighting a diverse range of women and their achievements.

Using historically based material, artist Gesine Born has created AI-generated images for the exhibition. These visuals depict the women in scientifically plausible working environments, such as collecting specimens or conducting research. This approach allows for the visualization of scenarios for which photographic evidence does not exist, like the butterfly collections of explorer Wilhelmine Meyer or the work of archaeologist Ida von Boxberg.

The exhibition also acknowledges women who enabled scientific work through other means. Among them are Johanna Rebecca Senckenberg, whose fortune provided a foundational basis for the Senckenberg Society, and Louise von Bose, whose donations significantly supported the institution''s development. Illustrator Gertrud Winter-von Möllendorff and museum laboratory assistant Margot Perl, who helped preserve collections during World War II, are also featured.

Original objects used or created by these women will be on display. Visitors will also encounter their stories within the museum's permanent exhibitions, linking collection items to their biographies. A "Making-of" film details the creation process of the AI-generated portraits, which are clearly labeled as such. The exhibition curators stress that these images are scientifically informed visualizations, not historical photographs.