Station: [1] Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Naturhistorische Museum Nürnberg – the Nuremberg Natural History Museum with its extensive interdisciplinary collections. The museum is operated by the Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nürnberg. Each of the Natural History Society’s eleven departments is dedicated to imparting knowledge in its own specialist areas: in the form of lectures, excursions, seminars – and of course here, in the museum's permanent exhibition!

As you explore our collections, you’ll come across some amazing objects: the complete skeleton of one of the earliest dinosaurs, including the original bones found in the immediate vicinity of Nuremberg. Then there’s the largest surviving iron meteorite anywhere in Germany, the tooth of a Neanderthal, and a genuine Bedouin tent from the Sahara.

This audio guide will accompany you on your tour of the exhibitions put together by the various departments. In all, it covers 65 stops: from ethnology on the ground floor – which is straight ahead from where you are now – via prehistory and early history on the upper floor – to geology, speleology (or cave research) and the excavations in the Jordanian city of Petra, carried out by members of the Natural History Society. There’s a gallery on the upper floor, where you can learn more about the work of our botany department, about the scientific study of insects and mammals, and about mycology – the science of fungi. The latter exhibition is housed in the tower next to this building.

And now we’re ready to begin. Where would you like to start? Take a look at the map on your screen to work out how to get to the various museum departments and to access individual audio stops.

If you’d like to find out more about the Nuremberg Natural History Society, please key in number 2, either now or at any time during your tour.