Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum Braunschweig, Natural history museum in Brunswick, Germany
The Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum Braunschweig houses fossils, minerals, preserved animals, and botanical collections across several exhibition halls in the city center. The rooms display material from different geological periods and show the variety of local and regional animal and plant life.
The museum was founded in 1754 and grew from collections assembled by the Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg under Carl I. It ranks among Germany's oldest natural history institutions.
The museum's name and origins trace to the 1754 Ducal Art and Natural History Cabinet, which made its collections publicly accessible. Some objects from the 17th-century ducal cabinets survive, including a painted Caspian turtle, gilded Venus clams and a European pond turtle skeleton. The scientific study collection is far larger than the public displays.
The museum occupies a brick building that originally served as a teacher-training college, on the northern edge of the city centre. The aquarium is in the basement, while the permanent displays and the Lichtsaal with the most valuable pieces are on the floors above. Between 2012 and 2015 the foyer and outdoor area were redesigned.
Among the oldest pieces still on show are objects from the 17th-century ducal cabinets of curiosities: a painted Caspian pond turtle, gilded Venus clams and the skeleton of a European pond turtle. Many other items from those collections were lost over 250 years.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,633 contributors worldwide.
