Book Review: The Toxic Museum

The Toxic Museum – Berlin and Beyond, By Helene Tello , Routledge (2024)

Review by Marc Holly

News in Conservation, February-March 2025, Issue 106, p. 36-39

The intent of The Toxic Museum by Helene Tello is to examine the use of pesticides in museum collections in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tello's research focuses on the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, Germany, however, she always places its role in the broader context of global development which makes the book relevant to a wide audience.

The book is divided into three main parts. Part 1 sets the larger context and describes the social and political currents of the book’s timeframe. Tello describes the formation of the nation-state of Prussia and its consequences for cultural policy alongside the impact of colonialism. Both themes are closely intertwined with the development of storage protection practices. In documents from the early 20th century on storage protection, Tello finds rules that, from today's perspective, address “aspects of [the] integrated pest management method used in museums".

Part 2 introduces the conservation of cultural property made from organic materials, with a focus on the prevention and control of harmful insects in museum collections. It also covers chemical agents, the means of human protection, and the toxic effects of pesticides on humans.

Part 3 is the heart of the book. It details the "collection and preservation of cultural artefacts in Berlin and beyond from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century". Tello concludes the book around 1939. For this reason the use of pesticides based on organochlorine compounds, such as DDT, in museum collections is not covered.

Parts 2 and 3 in particular are based on intensive research in several archives. Tello brings together information from across Germany, Europe, and the USA to develop her conclusions. She describes how international the exchange of knowledge was among museum professionals. There is evidence of communication between museums in unexpected countries such as Indonesia, China, Mexico, and Argentina. Tello highlights not only individual protagonists who advanced research but also their systems of exchange.

The book is aimed at researchers, chemists, and conservators responsible for contaminated collections. Although Tello focuses on the Ethnological Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, her studies provide deeper insight into the context and use of pesticides around 1900.

As the title suggests, the book is also well suited for an international readership, adopting a more global perspective. The exploration of historical sources opens and broadens the view. The use of biocides to preserve cultural artefacts was not just a matter for the larger museums in Europe's major cities, but stretched far and wide, even into more remote areas. Tello sheds light not only on individual protagonists who advanced research, but also on exchange systems such as postal inquiries, scientific journals of individual specialist committees, and international conferences. The connections between science, industry, and museums around 1900 are evident. In addition to the emergence and use of pesticides, the associated occupational health and safety issues are also discussed in an unbiased context. The use of chemicals in the past was not as careless and thoughtless as some have suggested.

The glossary, appendix, and list of substances in particular make the book an excellent reference work. For example, the ‘Typological Recording of Natural / Synthetic Active Substances’, with categories including chronology, active ingredient, use, and sources, is invaluable for one's own work on the subject.

It is possible that readers who do not understand German may find some of the quotations challenging, as they have not been translated into English. This could be a matter of concern, as these quotations are integral in presenting the development of biocides. There were also typos and spelling mistakes in some of the tables in the eBook.*

As already mentioned, the book ends before the Second World War. A continuation focusing on organochlorine-based pesticides during the second half of the 20th century would be desirable in order to understand the further development and use of biocides. Nevertheless, the book constitutes a significant addition to the extant research and understanding of the use of biocides for the safeguarding of art and cultural heritage. In addition, it represents a remarkable contribution to the global history of conservation sciences, extending far beyond Germany.

*Author’s note: This Review is written based on the eBook.

Review author bio

Marc Holly is the head of the Beratungsstelle Bestandserhaltung Sachsen-Anhalt—Saxony-Anhalt Conservation Advisory Centre in Germany. He is currently a PhD student at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, researching the dyestuff collection of the Hochschule Niederrhein in Krefeld. Following his training as a bookbinder, he studied book and paper conservation at the Cologne Institute of Conservation Science (CICS), TH Köln, Germany.

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