Three "million records" at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: The podcast for children "Süßes oder Saurier" was streamed more than one million times. In 2021 and 2022, one million people each visited the museum – either digitally or directly. In 2022, 730,000 visitors came to the exhibitions, took part in events and guided tours. That is as many as before the pandemic. The museum's online live formats were accessed more than 250,000 times. This means that the museum was able to inspire one million people with the topic of nature.
The Museum für Naturkunde has been one of the most visited museums in Berlin and Germany for years. Thanks to the rapid expansion of online services, it was possible to reach one million visitors even in pandemic years, although the actual number of visitors on site was around 250,000. "Now we have had as many visitors to the museum in 2022 as before the pandemic. This shows the immense interest of society in the topic of nature," Johannes Vogel, General Director of the Museum, is pleased to say. "For more than ten years, the museum has stood for putting a stop to climate change and man-made species extinction. With our current special exhibition 'DINOSAURS! – Age of the Giant Lizards', we want to consciously encourage reflection on the dangers posed by the climate and biodiversity crisis."
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin researches how the diversity of life came into being, how it developed and how it changes. This knowledge is made available to everyone in dialogues, cooperations, conferences, discussion groups and in projects. In this way, one's own responsibility for nature and democracy is consciously perceived. Because nothing less than one's own existence is at stake.
In 2022, under the leadership of the three Leibniz Natural History Museums, a broad alliance of renowned researchers called on Germany to take responsibility in the Berlin Declaration. In their position paper, the researchers present concrete recommendations for action. "How much depends on us living with nature was told during the World Conference on Nature (CBD COP15) in Montreal in the campaign 'Safeguarding Nature'. Only with a healthy planet is a healthy, good and democratic life possible," said Johannes Vogel, "for this we need to forge new alliances and activate society".
In its development into an open, integrated research museum, the museum continues to involve the public digitally – even after the pandemic. The museum's online live formats from 2022 were accessed more than 250.000 times. A YouTube livestream about the digitisation of research and the collection as well as the exhibition opening of "DINOSAURS!" on TikTok enjoyed particular popularity. The German Audiobook Award-winning podcast "Beats & Bones" entered its fifth season in 2022, as did "Süßes oder Saurier": The knowledge podcast for children has now been streamed more than one million times.
One million visitors per year are also the planning basis for the museum's recently launched architectural competition. "In addition to the areas of collection development and knowledge transfer, the building sub-project is now visibly coming into focus as part of the museum's plan for the future," says Stephan Junker, managing director of the museum. "Over the past few years, we have used structured processes to form a picture of what the museum of the future could look like and what functions it must fulfil. This includes considerations of how many visitors we expect and how we will organise their stay, how the collection will be safely housed in the future and at the same time be explorable. We would like to thank the German Bundestag, the Berlin House of Representatives, the Senate Department for Science, Health, Care and Equality and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for their support."