Maastricht Natural History Museum

The Maastricht Natural History Museum occupies a former monastery building in the Jekerkwartier neighborhood and displays extensive collections of regional geology, fossils, plants and animals from South Limburg. The exhibits include skeletal remains, rock samples and preserved organisms that record the area's natural past.

The building originated as a monastery and later became home to this natural science collection. A turning point came in 1794 when French forces removed a major mosasaurus skull during the Siege of Maastricht, which altered what the museum held.

The convent grounds below the building connect the space to the river and create a place where nature and history coexist. Visitors experience both historical objects and living plants in a single setting, which shapes how people engage with the collection.

The museum is easy to reach from the Jekerkwartier neighborhood, where visitors can step into the courtyard to explore the garden spaces along the Jeker River. Most visitors find it easiest to arrive in the late morning or early afternoon to have enough time for both the gardens and the indoor exhibits.

The museum displays a preserved rat king from the 19th century, an extraordinarily rare phenomenon where multiple rats are joined by their tails. This odd specimen captures visitor attention because it represents one of only a handful of known examples of this biological oddity.