University of Göttingen museum on the North Campus with fossils, minerals, meteorites and rocks from one of Germany's largest geoscience collections.
Through December 23, 2026
Fossils from the Willershausen site, about 30 kilometers away, show the diverse animal and plant life of Lower Saxony some three million years ago; many specimens are on public display for the first time. Since November 2025.
The museum's roots go back to the university's early years, when a natural history cabinet was established around 1737. The actual founding year is considered to be 1773, when the "Königlich Academische Museum" (Royal Academic Museum) was created, which also included the geoscience holdings. Scholars such as Johann Friedrich Blumenbach collected specimens for decades.
From 1877 to 1929, rocks, minerals and fossils were housed together with the zoological and ethnographic collections in the Natural History Museum on Berliner Straße, until a lack of space forced them to be separated again. Today the museum is part of the university's Geoscience Center on the North Campus.
With more than 4.5 million objects in over 20 sub-collections, the Göttingen holdings rank among the largest geoscience collections in Germany; the paleontology collection alone comprises several million specimens. On more than 2,000 square meters, permanent exhibitions present geology, mineralogy and paleontology, complemented by changing special exhibitions on current research projects and an outdoor geopark. The mineralogy collection also holds type material for numerous mineral species.
Admission is free.
| Children & teens | –Free admission for everyone. |
|---|---|
| Groups | –Guided tours by arrangement via geomuseum@gwdg.de or 0551 39-27998. |
Free admission.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Goldschmidtstraße-Ost
From Göttingen station/central bus station, bus lines 21, 22 and 23 to "Goldschmidtstraße-Ost" or "Tammannstraße" (about 15 min.), line 41 to "Goldschmidtstraße-Nord".
Parking available
Parking lot of the Geoscience Center; museum visitors may park there on Sundays, even if the signs suggest otherwise.
By car via the A7 exit Göttingen-Nord, then on the B27 towards Braunlage, following the signs "Uni, Kliniken".
Get directionsThe museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Guided tours for groups and school classes by arrangement with the museum. |
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