In the early 20th century, anatomists discussed the specific potential of manual exercises in student teaching. The Hamburg anatomist Johannes Brodersen (1878–1970), taught his students to model muscle anatomy in his courses using clay. Similar approaches were taken by the Inns-bruck anatomists Felix Sieglbauer (1877–1974) and Gustav Sauser (1899–1969). In Vienna, Alfons Poller (1879–1930) designed an institute for performing medicine in order to give his students ‘a sense of form and colour […] through their own artistic recreation […].’ What the protagonists had in common was an idea of artistic activity that was less focussed on the product, but rather served as a means of sharpening perception and practising the senses that grasp form. They were thus following a reformist pedagogical discourse that had been gaining importance in various disciplines since the turn of the century, but was also harshly criticised.