Enrico Caffi Museum of Natural Science

History

The origin of the museum could be traced back to the end of the 19th century. In 1871, the first exhibitions were held during public holidays, consisted of collections of memorabilia and artifacts from the Royal Technical Institute Vittorio Emanuele II. These collections made up the initial collection of the museum. At the time, the headquarters of the Royal Technical Institute was in the lower city, in the Palazzo della Pretura Nuova at Via Tasso 1. In 1873, the institute was moved to Piazza Vecchia in the Palazzo Nuovo.

On 14 July 1918, the museum was inaugurated and opened at Palazzo Nuovo. The initiative to split the museum from the institute was approved in 1917 during a meeting of the city council. On 13 January 1920, Dottore Enrico Caffi was appointed as the first director of the museum. He remained at his post until 1947. During his tenure, he initiated projects to reorganize and catalog all the findings, including the ones which the institute had added. The catalogues he had created is still important today, not only as part of the museum's collection, but because it also contains historical testimonies. As an expert in Bergamo Orobie area, he also devoted his time to study the flora and fauna of the area. He left behind massive quantities of important publications and manuscripts — scientific articles of his findings, summary lists containing systematic groups of the species in the region, geological maps of the territory as well as vocabulary lists containing terms of the animals and plants.

In 1928, during Caffi's tenure, the museum underwent two major moves. First move in 1922, was limited to the transport of artifact, specimens and memorabilia and shelves from the upper floor. The second, and more challenging, move took place between 1 August and 10 November 1927, when the museum's collections were moved to a venue on the east side of Piazza Vecchia and Via Bartolomeo Colleoni. The museum was reopened on 1 July 1928. The management and council hall, a library, a laboratory, an entomology room, a herbarium and the curator room were located on the first floor. On the second floor, there were sections dedicated to the mineral collection, fossil exhibits, ethnography as well as two other rooms for a laboratory and storage. …