  At the end of the 17th century, the collection was established through the
acquisition of Leiden instrumentmaker Musschenbroek's collection. Its aim was
to demonstrate physical phenomena. Until the end of the 18th century, the
collection was used and extended by a number of professors from various
university departments in teaching mechanics, hydrostatics, optics and
electrostatics. The foundation of the Institute for Mathematics and Physics in
1817 and the appointment of Christian Ludwig Gerling to the position of
Professor for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy strengthened the subject
considerably. Gerling extended the collection mainly with devices for geodesy
and astronomy, with more instruments being added in the time up to the middle
of the 20th century. Today, the collection allows an insight into the history
of scientific instruments as witnesses of the past.
