 He was also one of the founders of the Rheinischen Landesmuseums located in Bonn.In addition to his scientific activities Schaaffhausen served as president of the Vereins der Rettung zur See (Association for Rescue at Sea).Although Darwin's theory of evolution was not yet published, Schaaffhausen discussed the idea of species evolving in an article titled “Ueber Beständigkeit und Umwandlung der Arten” (On the Constancy and Transformation of Species) published in the "Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins der preussischen Rheinlande und Westphalens" (1853) in which he declared that "the immutability of species...is not proven."