Volunteering is present everywhere in our museum: around 150 people are actively involved in our museum community, enriching and influencing what happens in the museum. Our volunteers are among the 29 million people who volunteer (generally with no remuneration) for the common benefit of our country, according to a 2019 volunteer survey.
Where do our volunteers work?
The areas in which our volunteers work are diverse. Over 75 volunteers support the digitisation of our collection and its transformation into an open knowledge infrastructure, particularly as part of the Future Plan. They help with the digitisation, scientific identification, labelling and inventory of collection objects, create databases and publications and support our workshops and infrastructure. In addition, over 30 volunteer citizen scientists decipher our historical, handwritten archival documents in the transcription workshop and thus support ongoing research projects at our museum. Over ten FÖJ volunteers carry out valuable work in our research areas for science and education. Last but not least, numerous full-time employees are active as staff councillors, representatives for the severely disabled, women's representatives, doctoral student representatives and ombudspersons.
Why volunteering is important
Our museum demonstrates on a small scale what sustains the democratic community on a large scale: volunteering is the foundation of our society. A supported and strengthened volunteer service also means a sustainable museum.
For this reason, we would like to thank all those who volunteer for the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Thank you! Thank you for your commitment in pursuing common goals in and for our museum. Thank you for your ideas, for your passion and for your constancy!
We not only want to take this one day - the International Volunteer Day - as an opportunity to express our appreciation and recognition, but also to show how important it is to us to say ‘thank you’ in various forms throughout the year.
The reasons for volunteering are just as diverse as the forms of volunteering themselves. Therefore, establishing a fundamental culture of welcome and openness to human fulfilment is the basis of our actions. This appreciation begins when you first enter our museum and continues until you leave. With suitable areas of activity, we appeal to all people who want to gain qualifications and further training, who enjoy helping to shape things and take on responsibility, and who simply enjoy getting involved to support other people in their work. Thank you notes, Christmas cards and gifts are a must. There is the possibility of receiving a volunteer card or annual tickets to visit the museum. Collaborations with other volunteering programmes, such as #DBpacktan, promote targeted cooperation and create real added benefit. Reports and documentation make our volunteers and their work more visible. Finally, we offer opportunities for encounters and mutual exchange, including through the ‘Have the honour!’ format. Our volunteers from the various areas show what motivates, challenges and inspires them by giving an insight into their everyday museum life.
The last ‘Have the honour!’ event of the year will take place at the Museum für Naturkunde as part of the celebrations for International Volunteer Day. In a workshop, our volunteers will meet the volunteers from our transcription workshop and discover the special features of the old Kurrent and Sütterlin manuscripts, decipher terms related to natural history and finally begin transcribing a travel diary by the entomologist Arnold Schultze-Rhonhof (1875-1948).
We wish all supporters of our museum a Merry Christmas! Thank you for being here!
If you are interested and have any questions about volunteering at the museum, please contact ehrenamt@mfn.berlin.