The Museum für Naturkunde on Invalidenstraße in Berlin-Mitte is one of Europe’s major natural history museums and an active research institute. It holds more than 30 million collection objects (Museum für Naturkunde), and most visitors come to see its dinosaurs.
The central atrium of the 1889 building holds the Giraffatitan (Brachiosaurus) skeleton from Tanzania. At over 13 metres, it is the tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton on display (Planet Whitley). Nearby is the Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx, one of the most important fossils in paleontology. Other rooms display meteorites and minerals, as well as taxidermy that includes Bobby the gorilla and Knut the polar bear. The glass-walled wet collection contains roughly a million specimens preserved in ethanol jars and lit like an art installation.
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
Adult admission is about €11, and concessions and children over 6 pay €5. A family ticket costs €18, and children under 6 enter free (Musa). Buy timed tickets online to skip the queues, especially on weekends, rainy days, and during Berlin school holidays. Weekday mornings are the quietest time to visit. The museum is generally closed on Mondays, so check current hours before you go. The U6 stops at Naturkundemuseum station, close to the entrance, and Hauptbahnhof is about 15 minutes away on foot. You can combine your visit with Hamburger Bahnhof contemporary art museum or the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße.
