The testimony of the court pharmacy

The Berlin Palace was already a place of science in the 16th century. A labour report from the time tells us something about the role of women there

In 1731, the court apothecary at Berlin Palace, Caspar Neumann, issued a certificate of employment to the servant Maria Elisabeth Danielin. Humboldt University student Ida Lieback explains what it is all about and why it is on display in the Humboldt Lab.

There had been a court pharmacy in Berlin Palace since the end of the 16th century. A historical source records that it supplied ‘court servants, clergy and the poor’ with medicine free of charge. Medicines were produced in the laboratory, where Neumann also carried out chemical-pharmaceutical research. The first lectures on pharmacy also took place in the pharmacy.