Museo Histórico y Antropológico Maurice van de Maele

The Museo Histórico y Antropológico Maurice van de Maele is an anthropology and history museum in Valdivia, southern Chile, operated by the Universidad Austral de Chile. Named after Belgian amateur journalist, archaeologist and anthropologist Maurice van de Maele, the museum preserves and presents the cultural heritage of the Los Lagos region, with particular emphasis on Mapuche and Huilliche cultures and the German colonization of southern Chile. Housed in a nationally designated historic monument, the museum serves as a key institution for understanding the layered histories of Valdivia and its surrounding territories.

The museum was founded on 17 February 1956, taking its name from Maurice van de Maele, who dedicated thirty years to protecting the historical heritage of the Los Lagos region. The institution found its permanent home in the early 1970s when it was relocated to its current site on Isla Teja. The property had been acquired by Universidad Austral de Chile through a purchase from Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas. According to university records, the sale was negotiated in 1967, with Acta N.º 334/13 from 6 April 1967 documenting the company's acceptance in principle of the sale for Eº 285,263, and Acta N.º 340/27 from 6 July 1967 recording the formal subscription of the purchase deed. The museum has occupied the house since 1972. The building itself was restored in 1968 based on a project by architect Sergio Anwandter Böttcher, a direct descendant of the original builder. From 1969 to 1971, the house was inhabited by the family of university vicerector Hernán Castro Ossandón before becoming the museum's permanent location.

The museum's collections encompass archaeological artifacts, tools, toys, jewelry, textiles, ceramics and photographic materials. Its exhibitions trace Valdivia's history from Huilliche occupation through Spanish conquest and colonial period (1552-1820), independence and early Republic (1810-1830), to the German colonization period beginning in 1850. The museum's holdings are organized to reconstruct the region's past across these successive eras, with particular attention to indigenous cultures and European immigrant settlement. The collections reflect both the material culture of daily life and the broader historical processes that shaped southern Chile.

The museum's displays are distributed across two floors of the historic house. On the ground floor, rooms have been arranged as period interiors representing Spanish, Chilean (circa 1820), and German households, furnished with elements characteristic of each era. The second floor features objects of Mapuche culture, principally silverwork, pottery, and textiles, alongside items from the Spanish conquest period, with emphasis on domestic and military objects. This arrangement allows visitors to move through distinct cultural and chronological spaces within the single building.

The museum is housed in the Casa Carlos Anwandter, also known as the Casa Anwandter, constructed in the 1860s by Prussian colonist and entrepreneur Carlos Anwandter (1801-1889), who settled in Valdivia in 1850 and promoted industrial and cultural development in the city. The house was built as a residence for his large family on Isla Teja. It suffered considerable damage during the marine tornado of 26 April 1881, which led to a complete transformation that modified its facade, giving it its present appearance. After Anwandter's time, the house was occupied by officials of Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas, successor to Anwandter's brewery, who used the facilities until they were destroyed in the 1960 earthquake. The house was declared a National Monument in the category of Monumento Histórico on 29 October 1981 by decree D.S. 7829. The Wikidata entry for the museum also identifies it as a national monument of Chile, with an inception date of 1994, though this appears to reference a later administrative designation rather than the 1981 decree.

The museum is located in Valdivia, Chile, on Isla Teja, and is owned and administered by Universidad Austral de Chile. The institution maintains a website at www.museosaustral.cl. As a university museum housed in a national monument, it combines educational functions with heritage preservation, serving both academic and public audiences interested in the history and anthropology of southern Chile. Its location within the historic Anwandter house provides visitors with direct experience of the architectural heritage of the German colonization period while examining collections that span the full breadth of the region's cultural history.