Accessibility
Your journey through the building, the exhibition and knowledge
Your personal journey of discovery
More than 10,000 exhibits in the exhibition tell their own stories. Everyone experiences our museum differently. Because everyone follows their own path through the building!
Some people linger for a long time in front of a single object. Others follow a trail through several galleries. Perhaps your companion will offer a new perspective – or you yourself will discover a story that no one has told before.
In the Nass Collection, as well as in the special exhibitions digitize! and ZUGvögel – A Collection in Motion, we offer initial insights into our research collection, which comprises over 30 million objects. Each of these objects holds knowledge within it. Some stories have already been researched. Others are still waiting to be discovered!
We are designing our museum so that as many people as possible can embark on their own personal journey of discovery. Not everything is equally accessible to everyone – but we are creating a variety of routes through the building, the exhibition and the content.
We look forward to hearing about your experiences and receiving your feedback along the way.
For general enquiries regarding your visit, please contact us at info@mfn.berlin.
For guided tours and educational programmes, please contact bildung@mfn.berlin.
Creating opportunities, breaking down barriers
Not all areas of our historic building are yet fully accessible, and there are still some restrictions within the exhibitions. We are constantly working to identify and remove existing barriers.
As part of our museum evolution, we are fundamentally developing our museum building, exhibitions and digital offerings:
- The historic building is gradually being made accessible – including a new, accessible main entrance and accessible tour routes.
- New exhibitions and digital formats are also being created with the aim of making knowledge accessible and enabling participation.
German Sign Language (DGS)
Audio guide
Our audio guide includes a highlights tour in German Sign Language (DGS). You can use it to explore selected exhibits via short DGS videos on your own device.
Listen
Subtitles and visual information
We design our exhibitions so that information is not conveyed solely through sound.
Many films in our exhibitions feature subtitles. We also convey key content through text, graphics or interactive elements.
Listening stations
Selected listening stations are equipped with induction loops. Please look out for the relevant symbol on site.
Notes on acoustics
The historic building poses particular challenges for room acoustics. In some areas – for example, in the Dinosaur World – it can get noisy when visitor numbers are high.
If you prefer quieter areas, we recommend, amongst others:
- the Minerals Hall
- the rear upper exhibition level (Highlights of Taxidermy)
- certain times outside weekends and holidays, particularly in the late afternoon
Mobility
The accessible entrance is located to the right of the main entrance. From there, you can reach both the exhibition level and our cloakroom and accessible toilets via a lift.
The rear section of the exhibition is half a flight of stairs higher. A lift in the Wet Collection connects the two levels.
Easily accessible areas
Particularly accessible areas include:
- Dinosaur World, with wide viewing angles around the Giraffatitan skeleton
- Freestanding large objects in ‘Evolution in Action’
- The Nass Collection with display cases viewable at ground level
- Large-scale dermoplastics in ‘Highlights of Taxidermy’
Many display cases are wheelchair-accessible or easily viewable from a seated position.
Texts and interactive stations are generally accessible from a wheelchair.
Seating and breaks
Seating is available in all exhibition halls.
Quieter areas can be found, amongst others:
- the Minerals Hall
- at the rear of the ‘Highlights of Taxidermy’
Services
- Free wheelchairs at the information desk
- Accessible toilets in the basement
- First-aid and breastfeeding room on the upper exhibition level (Highlights of Taxidermy)
See
We offer a range of facilities for visitors with visual impairments.
Tactile objects and models
In selected areas, we provide tactile access, for example:
- selected objects in the Microscopy Centre (open Wednesdays from 2 pm to 4 pm)
- individual freestanding exhibits, for example in the Minerals Hall as well as in the Cosmos and Solar System sections
Audio guide and jurascopes
Our audio guide provides additional information and descriptions for selected exhibits. The service is free of charge and can be used on your own smartphone.
In the Dinosaur World, you can also follow the content of the jurascopes on a large screen.
Orientation and contrast
In several exhibitions, we feature highlights presented with high contrast, such as:
- the free-standing dinosaur skeleton in the Dinosaur World
- selected large objects in ‘Evolution in Action’
- strikingly illuminated birds in the special exhibition ‘ZUGvögel – A Collection in Motion’
Understand
People experience exhibitions in different ways. That is why we offer a variety of ways to engage with our themes.
You can explore exhibitions through objects, texts, media or discussions. In our wet collection, for example, the focus is solely on the specimens.
Many exhibitions feature introductions and overviews. These help visitors find their way around.
Models, large exhibits and illustrative examples make complex topics easier to understand.
Our digital resources also aid understanding:
- An audio guide featuring a 70-minute tour in eleven languages, a version for children in German and English, and in German Sign Language
- Further digital formats, such as our YouTube series “Museums-Evolution”, the podcast “Beats & Bones” and the children’s podcast “Süßes oder Saurier”
Many of our educational programmes focus on interaction and shared discovery. If you are visiting with a group or have specific requirements, we would be happy to advise you.
Contact: bildung@mfn.berlin
Digital services
Digital formats provide additional ways to engage with the exhibition and allow visitors to create their own tours with different focal points.
General audio guide
Our audio guide offers a 70-minute tour of the exhibitions in eleven languages, a German and an English version for children (recommended for ages six and above), as well as a version in German Sign Language (DGS).
The service is free of charge and can be used on your own smartphone.
Thematic audio guides
In addition to the classic tour, we offer thematic audio guides with different perspectives via our audio guide portal.
Like Grass – A Literary Audio Guide to the Anthropocene
With texts by Daniel Falb, Monika Rinck and Judith Schalansky, narrated by Sandra Hüller, Dirk von Lowtzow and Christoph Müller.
Queering Nature
An audio guide that examines nature and science from a queer historical perspective and explores issues of visibility, knowledge and representation.