Museum Evolution
We are renovating, making our collection accessible and creating new spaces for research, exchange and collaborative learning.
Insights into the research collection
Deer & Bovids
Discover horns and antlers as objects of research – and find out what they reveal about evolution, culture and the history of scientific collections.
A research collection is being made public
As part of the ‘Museum Evolution’ project, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is permanently opening up further sections of its research collection to visitors. The Public Collection of Deer & Bovids is one of these new halls and can be viewed as part of a guided tour, together with the Public Collection of Mammalian Skulls.
Here, you will not experience a traditional exhibition, but rather a scientific collection in its original context. The objects are preserved in their scientific order and continue to be used for research, as well as for engaging with the public. At the same time, you will gain an insight into an area of the museum that was previously reserved exclusively for researchers.
More than just horns and antlers
The collection on display in the hall comprises thousands of horns, antlers and trophies from a wide variety of animal species. They illustrate the diversity of deer and bovids and continue to provide important insights into evolution, biodiversity and nature conservation.
At the same time, they tell the story of the relationship between humans and animals. Horns and antlers served as hunting trophies, status symbols or objects of worship, and continue to hold special cultural significance in many regions of the world to this day. The exhibition hall invites visitors to discover these different perspectives on the same objects.
Image gallery carousel
Two members of staff in the ‘Deer & Bovids’ collection: each item is accompanied by a label containing key details, such as the location or year of discovery.
Photo: Pablo Castagnola
Cataloguing the collection usually also involves taking a photograph of each item, as shown here at a photo station in the ‘Mammalia’ sub-collection.
Photo: Pablo Castagnola
All the objects in the new gallery had to be moved at least once within the museum. We took this opportunity to carry out conservation work on the collection and to further catalogue it.
Photo: Pablo Castagnola
Thinking ahead together on research
Many of the objects originate from former German colonies. That is why we have further developed this research collection in collaboration with international co-curators. They contributed their perspectives on selected objects and supplemented the scientific information with cultural, historical and social contexts.
This gives rise to new narratives about the collection: they show how animals were perceived, what significance they hold in different societies, and the routes by which many objects found their way to Berlin.
The Deer & Bovids Public Collection makes it clear that natural history collections are far more than just scientific archives. They are places where research, history and diverse perspectives converge – and where new knowledge is created collaboratively.
What is a bovid?
Bovids form a family of mammals (Bovidae). This family includes, amongst others, antelopes, buffalo, bison, cattle, sheep and goats. Their horns consist of a bony core covered by a layer of horn and usually continue to grow throughout their lives.
Deer, on the other hand, are not horned animals: they have antlers, which are made of bone and are usually shed and regrown every year.