Goldfuß-Museum

The Goldfuß-Museum is a university natural history museum housing approximately 350,000 large fossils from locations around the world. The collection includes petrified plants, shells, and bones of extinct creatures arranged systematically throughout the exhibition spaces.

The institution was founded in 1882 as part of a natural history collection and relocated to its current building in 1911. It grew from a scientific gathering into a teaching museum open to the public within Bonn University.

The museum is named after Georg August Goldfuss, a German paleontologist and zoologist whose scientific work continues to guide its collections. Visitors can see how fossils are traditionally studied and displayed in a scientific setting.

The museum is located at Nussallee 8 and is accessible by public transportation. Visitors should check current opening hours in advance since they may vary, and guided tours can be arranged with prior notice.

The museum preserves its original exhibition spaces from 1910 with historical display cases that reflect how scientists of past generations presented fossils. These rooms offer a glimpse into early museum practices and the way collections were organized over a century ago.

Location: Bonn

Inception: 1882

Founders: Georg August Goldfuss

Operator: Universität Bonn, Steinmann-Institut

Part of: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Institut für Geowissenschaften

Address: Nußallee 8, 53115 Bonn

Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 09:00-16:00; Sunday 13:00-17:00

Website: https://ifgeo.uni-bonn.de/museen/goldfuss-museum

GPS coordinates: 50.72657,7.08978

Latest update: December 14, 2025 13:07