Archive
The archive preserves the history of the museum and natural history. With its unique documents, images and artefacts, it provides key resources for research, provenance studies and the history of science.
Overview
The archive of the Museum für Naturkunde documents the history of the institution across all its collections and also serves as a specialist archive for scientific research and collection activities. With its holdings, it ranks among the world’s most significant archives on the history of the natural sciences, with a focus on zoology, geology and palaeontology.
The archive holdings include original letters, field notebooks and correspondence from eminent researchers – including Alexander von Humboldt – unpublished manuscripts, expedition reports, historical photographs and institutional records dating back to the early 19th century. In total, the archive preserves more than 90,000 files and around 20,000 images spanning over 200 years of museum and scientific history across approximately 900 linear metres.
In addition, the archive preserves a wide variety of objects that have served or continue to serve the purposes of knowledge dissemination, representation or the acquisition of knowledge. These include scientific models, measuring instruments, busts, sculptures and reliefs, paintings and wall panels, coins, medals, plaques, as well as exhibition objects and models.
One of the archive’s core tasks is to safeguard, catalogue and make collections, bequests and object collections accessible to the academic community in accordance with professional archival standards. As a public archive of the State of Berlin, it operates in accordance with the Berlin Archives Act.
Contact
Mandy Ullmann
Archive Management
Email: mandy.ullmann@mfn.berlin
Telephone: +49 30 889140-8519
Access
How to use our archive
Before visiting, we recommend that you first familiarise yourself with the archive’s main collections, which are linked below. There you will find an initial overview of the contents, key areas and scope of each collection.
If you are unsure which collection group is relevant to your enquiry or whether we hold material relating to your research project, please feel free to contact us by email: archiv@mfn.berlin
Visits to the archive are only possible by prior appointment via email. Our staff will assist you during your visit, provide the requested materials and explain how to handle the documents correctly. The collections are reference collections and can only be viewed on site.
We are happy to receive enquiries by email. Please note that it may take up to 14 days to process enquiries.
To prepare for your visit, you can fill in the linked application form in advance.
Currently restricted access
As part of the Museum Evolution project, we are carrying out extensive construction work. In this context, we are relocating the archive and its collections to refurbished areas and new locations. To ensure the safety of the collections and to prepare for their transport, access to the archive holdings is currently restricted.
During the following periods, certain collections will be temporarily unavailable:
- Image collection (B) and object collection (OS) – until approximately the 4th quarter of 2027
- Estates (N) – from 1 May 2026 until approximately the fourth quarter of 2027
- Administrative records (S) – from 1 July 2026 until the fourth quarter of 2027 (expected)
During this time, visits to the archives, access to the affected collections and loans will not be possible. Unfortunately, we are unable to process enquiries regarding these collections.
Once the relocation and construction work has been completed, the archive collections will be more accessible. We will provide an update on our website as soon as they are available for use again. We kindly ask you to refrain from making enquiries until then, thank you for your understanding, and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
History
Closely linked to the development of the museum’s research collections and those of its predecessor institutions, the holdings document the institution’s institutional and academic development since the early 19th century.
Correspondence, administrative records, object lists and catalogues, as well as expedition reports and diaries, illustrate how research was organised and how knowledge was gathered and disseminated. These are supplemented by scientific estates, teaching materials, maps, drawings, photographs and historical portraits.
Research
The archive collections offer new insights into the development of the natural sciences. Original field notes, scientific correspondence and detailed expedition reports shed light on research processes, networks and the paths to knowledge.
In many cases, the documents provide the only evidence of the provenance of scientific objects and thus form an important basis for current biodiversity research. At the same time, they are of great cultural and scientific-historical value and help to shed light on the history of the museum – from its early predecessor institutions to the present day.