Naturama Aargau, Natural history museum in Aarau, Switzerland.
Naturama Aargau is a natural history museum in the Swiss city of Aarau focused on the biological and geological diversity of the region. The collections are organized by habitats and show how different species live in meadows, forests, and water systems.
The Aargauische Naturforschende Gesellschaft was founded in 1811 by naturalists including Albrecht Rengger, Heinrich Zschokke and Friedrich Frey-Herosé. In 1827 private collections were merged into a public cabinet in the Alte Kantonsschule. After several moves, the collection entered a neo-baroque building by Hans Hächler in 1922, extended 1951–1953; the Arthur Rüegg extension and new exhibition opened in April 2002.
The museum demonstrates how people connect with their natural surroundings by presenting displays that explain regional habitats. Visitors see how plants and animals interact within the local waterways and forests.
The museum sits in central Aarau and opens Tuesday through Sunday, making it easy to fit a visit into a day trip. The exhibitions focus on environmental subjects that you can understand without special background knowledge.
In 2002 the museum acquired the Gottfried Keller collection, over 1,200 watercolours of native and European orchids. Its scientific holdings also include rare bird specimens such as the great auk and the passenger pigeon, plus the Herbarium Argoveniense. Staff take part in dinosaur excavations at the Frick clay pit.
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