Natural History Museum

The Museum für Naturkunde on Invalidenstraße, in the Oranienburger Vorstadt part of Mitte, is the largest natural history museum in Germany. Its scientific holdings run to more than 30 million objects, from minerals and insects to vertebrates. The museum was originally part of Humboldt University; since January 1, 2009 it has been an independent public foundation with the full name Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science. As a member of the Leibniz Association it combines research, collection and public education under one roof.

Its most famous resident is the skeleton of a Brachiosaurus brancai in the central atrium, considered the tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world and based on finds from the Tendaguru hill in what is now Tanzania. The museum also displays other dinosaur skeletons, the celebrated Berlin specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx, and thousands of prepared animals. Another highlight is the enormous wet collection, where many thousands of alcohol-preserved animals line up in jars, an unusually direct look behind the scenes of scientific collecting.

The museum describes itself as an open, integrated research museum and leans hard into citizen science and the digital cataloging of its collection. Families should allow enough time, since there are hands-on stations and rotating special exhibitions alongside the main galleries. The U-Bahn station named after the museum drops you at the door. Book tickets ahead on weekends and during school vacations, as the crowd in front of the Brachiosaurus can be substantial.