von Christine Beese, Marie Krüger, Nicole Falconi, 19.01.2026-21.01.2026
Merely 150 metres separate two anatomical theatres (1744-1749 / 1874) on Minderbroederstraat, originally located in the outskirts of Leuven.
With the aim of retracing and exploring the urban topography of the buildings commissioned by the professor of medicine and rector of the Leuven University Hendrik Jozef Rega (1690-1754), and the neo-Gothic Theatre designed by the architect Joris Helleputte (1852-1925), the Emmy Noether Group visited these sites as well as the botanical garden and Rega’s Herenhuis.
The neo-Gothic anatomical theatre by Helleputte, constructed in the 19th century, is currently being restored and will be repurposed to house the newly established Vesalius Museum. With this development in mind, the group met the Academic Director of the Vesalius Museum and Research Professor Tinne Claes to converse about interdisciplinary perspectives from art and architecture converging with modern museal practices and the visualization of history of science, medicine and anatomy in this space.
Moreover, a meeting was planned with the architecture Professor Merlijn Hurx and his research team (KU Leuven) at the Faculty of architecture and engineering situated in the monumental Arenberg Castle, to present the respective (ERC and DFG funded) Projects and to discuss research approaches and methodologies used in Technology, Engineering Sciences and Art History.
The enriching trip ended with a tour to the Sint-Jan-De-Doperkerk (St. John the Baptist Church) and the Groot Begijnhof, the Grand Beguinage district, a restored historical quarter that originated in the 13th century – one of the largest remaining beguinages in the Low Countries and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
