On this page you will find information on accessibility in the museum.
Information on accessibility
The barrier-free entrance is located on the right of the main entrance. There are three disabled parking spaces opposite the barrier-free entrance. Please note: Due to construction work on the neighbouring building, only one disabled parking space is currently available.
If required, we can provide wheelchairs free of charge. Please contact the information counter.
The cloakroom and the barrier-free WC are located in the basement. These service areas can be reached by lift from the barrier-free entrance. A lift or stair lift provides access to the exhibition level.
The exhibition is mainly located on the ground floor. For structural reasons, one part of the museum is located higher than the front part of the exhibition. A lift in the wet collection guarantees access here.
The information texts on our exhibits and the interactive elements are easily accessible from a wheelchair. The videos of our interactive jurascopes in the "World of Dinosaurs" exhibition, can also be watched on a big screen, so that there should be no obstacles for visitors with impaired mobility.
Only the upper levels of the exhibition hall "The Cosmos and Solar System" are not yet accessible by other means than our staircase. However, we present the content of these exhibitions at a media station on the ground floor.
Information for visually impaired visitors
Our education department can arrange for special guided tours for visually impaired children, adults and groups.
Advice and booking:
- Phone: +49 (0)30 889140-8550
- E-mail: bildung@mfn.berlin
- Please note the service hours.
Floor plan
The floor plan shows the areas accessible to visitors in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, divided into the various exhibition halls and service areas.
The main entrance is in the centre. Once you have entered the building, there is a cloakroom area with lockers on the left-hand side. The museum shop is located behind it.
On the right-hand side of the entrance area is the museum café and a seating area adjacent to the café, as well as further lockers and seating for groups.
Straight ahead you will reach the entrance area. An information counter is located on the right-hand side. Past this, two staircases or a lift will take you to the cloakroom and toilets in the basement. In the basement, the toilets are located on the left (as seen from the stairs) and the cloakroom on the right.
Tour
The exhibition halls are arranged as follows:
Dinosaur World (Hall 1): You will find our Dinosaur World directly opposite the main entrance. The Dinosaur World is our largest exhibition hall and displays the world's largest dinosaur skeleton and the famous Berlin specimen of the prehistoric bird Archaeopteryx.
System Earth (Hall 2): Through two large passageways at the end of the dinosaur hall, you enter the ‘System Earth’ hall. The themes of this room are volcanism, earthquakes and meteorite falls - how does the Earth system change and how do living creatures adapt?
Special exhibition ‘Dinosaurs!’ (Room 3): On the right-hand side of the ‘System Earth’ hall, you enter the special exhibition ‘Dinosaurs!’. This special exhibition is divided into two rooms. First you enter the staircase. On the left you can find the Open Planning Laboratory (Room 11), which is open at selected times and events.
Continuing straight ahead, you come to another room in which dinosaurs from the three geological periods Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous are exhibited. The Tyrannosaurus rex ‘Tristan Otto’ is also on display here.
Wet Collection (Room 4): At the end of the special exhibition, you enter a small intermediate room, from which you turn left into the part of the wet collection, which is accessible to visitors. In this collection, one million animals are stored in 276,000 jars containing 80 tonnes of alcohol in the world's most modern scientific wet collection. This room is colder than the rest of the exhibition area due to a temperature lock.
At the other end of the hall, you can reach the rear upper level of the exhibition via stairs or a lift.
Once on the upper level, you will find a first aid and nursing room in the right-hand corner.
Highlights of taxidermy (Room 5): The upper level of the exhibition begins with insect models and a coral reef diorama. On the left-hand side, a corridor leads to further showcases that explain more about the taxidermy of museum animals.
Opposite these showcases, which are located on the left-hand side of the corridor, you will find toilets on the right-hand side.
Straight ahead you reach another area of the exhibition "Highlights of taxidermy". Large dermoplastics are exhibited on the left and display cases with macaws on the right.
Adjacent to this area, you will find the highlights of the exhibition: polar bear "Knut" and gorilla "Bobby".
At the end of the hall, the exhibition ends on the upper rear level. Here you will find our activity area and the microscopy centre, which are only accessible at selected times and events.
Further exhibition rooms are located on the other side of the museum. You can return to the other side via the exhibition rooms already described until the room ‘System Earth’.
Cosmos and Solar System (Room 8): Having arrived back in the ‘System Earth’ hall via the special exhibition ‘Dinosaurs!’, you will find the ‘Cosmos and Solar System’ staircase straight ahead.
The space cinema and meteorites provide insights into space and time. Here you can learn how our solar system was formed.
Evolution in action (Room 7): To the right of the staircase is the ‘Evolution in Action’ room. This room contains the biodiversity wall, which displays around 3,000 species from all animal groups. Further display cases show the mechanisms of evolution.
Special exhibition ‘ZUGvögel’ (Room 9): Straight ahead from the ‘Cosmos and Solar System’ staircase, we present another special exhibition. It shows historical bird specimens in moving boxes, as the objects have been temporarily relocated due to building work.
Minerals (Room 10): Back in the ‘Cosmos and Solar System’ staircase, you will reach the minerals room via the ‘Earth System’ room on the right. The Mineral Hall is a historical display collection with over 1,000 types of minerals, including valuable specimens collected by Alexander von Humboldt.
At the other end of the Mineral Hall, you return to the entrance area.
Straight ahead is the museum shop. The information counter is on the left. The museum café is located directly to the right behind the counter. Continue straight ahead to get back to the cloakroom and toilets.
The exit is on the first floor of the stairs to the basement.