Museum in Divided Berlin (1945–1990)

Reopening in difficult times

On 16 September 1945, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin was the first museum in the city to reopen its doors: five galleries of the zoological exhibition collection were open to visitors. As early as October, the first post-war series of popular science lectures followed with the slide show ‘From the Love Life of Butterflies’. The staff hoped ‘that with our exhibition halls we can provide quite a few people with hours of edification and enrichment of knowledge’.

Restore

Initially, however, the focus was not on research or teaching. Staff secured and recovered collection items that had been moved to storage, cleared out and cleaned the badly damaged building, fitted new glass to and sealed up broken windows, protected objects from theft, repaired cabinets, and restored damaged specimens and dioramas.

The first objects returned from the cellars to the exhibition in 1947. A year later, the first diorama was created. At the same time, preparations began in the atrium for the reconstruction of ‘Brachiosaurus brancai’ (now Giraffatitan brancai). In 1951, work was halted as the rooms were needed for the exhibition marking the GDR’s first Five-Year Plan. Two years later, the dinosaur was back on display.

In 1954, the mineralogical collection opened, followed in 1966 by the Ungulate Hall – one of the first rooms to be completely redesigned after the war. The museum did not complete the reconstruction of the completely destroyed east wing, which now houses the wet collection, until 2010.

Many urgently needed renovations can only be carried out as part of the ongoing museum evolution, which is expected to continue until 2035.

Change is the only constant

Political developments continued to have a profound impact on the museum, which remained part of Humboldt University of Berlin even during the GDR era. As early as the first post-war years, numerous academic staff left the museum and moved to West Berlin or to universities in West Germany.

With the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, many museum staff members living in West Berlin were suddenly unable to reach their workplace. Nevertheless, the museum continued its work, supported primarily by young academics.

In 1968, the GDR reorganised the higher education landscape. From then on, academic teaching was no longer part of the museum’s remit. At the same time, new departments were established for a time, including botany and anthropology. The collection continued to grow – through valuable donations and scientific collecting expeditions.

The preferred destinations were the so-called socialist brother nations of Cuba and Mongolia, as well as nature reserves in the GDR. Many other regions remained virtually inaccessible for political reasons. Nevertheless, numerous significant publications emerged that had a lasting impact on scholarship in both East and West – including textbooks and field guides, some of which are still in use today.

Meeting place

At the same time, the museum was a place where people could meet – sometimes in secret. It was a place where people who wanted to speak their minds or exchange views with journalists from the West would gather. The long arm of the Stasi apparently did not reach this far.