Karl Porges – Uwe Hoßfeld – Carla Porges:
Historical slide series on the history of science from biology lessons in the GDR: Gregor Mendel and Ernst Haeckel

Abstract

In this article, we examine the significance of historical slide series from the former German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik; hereinafter GDR) within the canon of educational media. Using selected GDR slide series on the lives and works of the leading naturalists and ‘stars’ of the history of biology Gregor J. Mendel (1822–1884) and Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) we illustrate how scientific information was presented and didactically processed, while also contributing to the history of the reception of Mendel and Haeckel in the field of education.

Language: english

Keywords: biological education; GDR; Mendel; Haeckel