Siebold-Museum, Würzburg

In Germany as well as in Japan, the name of ‘Siebold’ is well-known. But the fame of Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866) unduly outshines the role of his family – a whole doctors’ dynasty: His grandfather Carl Caspar, his father, the three uncles and his numerous cousins are at least as important for the history of medicine and science in Germany as the famous mediator between Japanese and European culture. To commemorate this medical doctor and botanical scientist, theWürzburg based Siebold-Gesellschaft (Siebold-Society) opened a Siebold-Museum on 3rd July 1995. Inside a former directors residence from 1887 there are two museum floors, a library, two guest-appartments and a German-Japanese Meeting Center with an original Japanese tea-house. The permanent exhibition displays the researcher’s life in Germany and Japan and informations about his influence on Japan, his ancestors, his descendants in Europe and Japan and also his various publications. In addition temporary exhibitions giving a wide spread overview of the historic and contemporary Japan are held several times a year. According to Siebold’s idea of a peaceful co-existence of different cultures the place is used for events like concerts, lectures, presentations or conferences, too. Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday 14.30 – 17.30. Other times after prearrangement Monday closed