Mehrere präparierte Wildbienen sind mit Nadeln in weißen Sammlungsboxen fixiert. Unter jedem Exemplar befindet sich ein beschriftetes Etikett mit Fund- und Bestimmungsdaten.

Collection

Our research collection serves as a key infrastructure for research into evolution and biodiversity, as well as for other scientific enquiries.

Overview

The research collection forms the core infrastructure of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. With over 30 million objects, it is Germany’s largest natural history collection. Its holdings document 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history and the history of life – from the origins of the solar system to the present day. Numerous type specimens serve as references for the first descriptions of species.

Since the early 18th century, individuals and networks, as well as expeditions and research trips, have contributed to the expansion of the collection. Accordingly, archive and library holdings complement the collection and enable research into the history of science and the collection, as well as into provenance and historical acquisition contexts.

As part of our museum’s evolution, we are cataloguing the holdings both physically and digitally. Interlinked collection data connects objects, media and metadata, making them usable for research into biodiversity, evolution, Earth systems, the history of science and provenance. The infrastructure is open to the natural sciences, arts and humanities, as well as to citizen science and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Access

The research collection is open to researchers and partners in accordance with our terms of use. In the individual collection areas, workstations allow for direct work on artefacts and historical sources. Please contact the relevant contact persons for this purpose.

Enquiries regarding specific objects and holdings should be directed to the relevant sub-collections. Collection staff will first check whether the requested objects are available and accessible.

Collection in motion

As part of our Museum Evolution, we are relocating holdings – including to Berlin-Adlershof, where a collection and research centre is being established as the museum’s second site.

We are combining these relocations with the systematic collection development: we examine each object from a conservation perspective and record it digitally. This creates interconnected collection data that is secured for the long term. In the future, a public data portal will make approved information searchable regardless of location.

Against this backdrop, access to individual sub-collections is temporarily restricted.

Currently inaccessible or with limited access

Archive

Image and object collections, bundles, bequests, administrative records (until Q4 2027)

Library

Holdings from the Ornithology, Coleoptera, and Pisces branch libraries, as well as portions from the Mineralogical and Paleontological libraries

Entomology

Coleoptera and Strepsiptera, Hemimetabola

Mineralogy

Minerals, Petrographic and Ore Deposits Collection (until July 2029)

Collection areas

Person steht auf Trittleiter und entnimmt Archivbox aus Regalgang mit systematisch geordneten Beständen

Archive

Historical documents and research findings are available as valuable resources for study.

Person entnimmt Buch aus Regalgang der Bibliothek

Library

Make use of our scientific and historical collections to support research, teaching and knowledge dissemination.

Forschende prüft ein Probenröhrchen mit Gewebe- oder DNA-Material im Labor.

Biorepository

Our research collection's biorepository stores over 58,000 DNA and tissue samples, which are available for interdisciplinary research.

Ausschnitt der Insektenwand: Ein Insektenkasten scheint sich aus der Sammlung zu lösen und ragt plastisch aus der Wand heraus.

Entomology

The entomology department houses extensive collections of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and other orders of insects.

Mehrere Mineralproben aus Russland liegen in kleinen Sammlungsschachteln. Hinter den Stücken befinden sich historische handschriftliche Etiketten mit Fundort- und Bestimmungsangaben.

Mineralogy

The mineralogy department houses extensive collections of meteorites, minerals, rocks and ores. It also provides the infrastructure for deposit and impact research.

Person hält Fossil eines Fisches mit gut erhaltenem Schuppen- und Skelettabdruck auf Gesteinsplatte

Palaeontology

The palaeontology department brings together extensive collections of fossil vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as collections of recent and fossil plants.

Ein Weichtiergehäuse wird in der Digitalisierungsstation DORA positioniert.

Recent invertebrates

The Recent Invertebrates collection comprises more than ten million specimens from all biogeographical regions and includes, amongst others, marine invertebrates, crustaceans and molluscs, as well as arachnids and millipedes.

In Alkohol konservierte Schlange in einem Glasgefäß auf einem CT-Scanner in der Sammlung

Recent vertebrates

The Recent Vertebrates collection comprises specimens from all major groups of Craniota and Vertebrata. Having grown since the 18th century, it contains numerous type specimens as well as rare and extinct species.

Magnetband auf offener Tonbandspule, Teil eines analogen Tonträgers aus dem Tierstimmenarchiv, in schützender Verpackung
Collection

Animal Sounds Archive

The Animal Sounds Archive contains over 120,000 audio recordings of around 1,800 bird species, 580 mammal species and numerous species from other animal groups, including fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects.

In figures