As part of the project "Wissensstadt Berlin 2021" (Knowledge City Berlin 2021), the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science will exhibit the Sanctorian Chair—a reconstructed balance from the 17th century—at the main open air exhibition at Berlin's "Rote Rathaus" on August 7, from 15:00 to 20:00.

Exhibition: Self-Tracking in the Seventeenth Century

The exhibition explores the beginnings of "self-tracking", a practice that is so common to us today. This leads us back 400 years to the turn of the seventeenth century. Here we follow the tracks of the physician Sanctorius Sanctorius, who developed a special balance to measure physiological processes in the human body. It was the first time in history that a balance was applied to the human body. Visit us next to the "Rote Rathaus", travel with us in time, and experience Sanctorius' weighing chair yourself. But be warned: it'll need more than just a few clicks!

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For the Wissensstadt Berlin 2021, Berlin-based institutions from science and research join together, opening their doors and their research to a broader audience. Spread out over the entire year, 100 individual and joint projects will take place in Berlin - in the digital sphere, at the institutions themselves and throughout the city space. The key aims of the project are to arouse interest and enthusiasm for science among a larger public audience, to attract a significant number of visitors and to raise the profile of Berlin as a city of science in 2021.

The event is free of charge