Naturmuseum Dortmund

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The foundation was laid around 1900 by the natural history school collection of the senior teacher Edgar Weinert. With the help of the Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein Dortmund, the city provided a building on Viktoriastraße, where the Naturwissenschaftliches Museum opened in 1912 with Weinert as its first director. Because the collection grew quickly, it moved in 1934 to a larger building on Balkenstraße in the city center. In World War II most of the holdings were lost.

After the collection was rebuilt, the city decided on a new building at the Fredenbaum in northern Dortmund, which opened on May 24, 1980 as the Museum für Naturkunde. Besides zoology, geology, paleontology and mineralogy, live animals in aquariums and terrariums characterized the museum. In 2012 the aquarium area was redesigned with a large tank on the fish world of the Möhnesee.

From 2014 to 2020 the museum was closed for a comprehensive renovation and reopened in September 2020 as the Naturmuseum Dortmund with a new permanent exhibition: the biological part leads from the city across fields and forests to the Ruhr and Möhnesee, the geological part through the earth history beneath Dortmund. The collection includes about 250,000 objects, including many insects, minerals and fossils. Regular special exhibitions and a broad education program complement the offering; a friends' association has supported the museum since 2010.

Highlights

• Completely mounted skeleton of a female woolly mammoth
• Large circular aquarium with fish of the Möhnesee
• Habitats from the city center to the river in "Stadt – Land – Fluss"
• Giant ammonites from the city area and fossils from the Messel Pit
• Mineral cabinet
• Museum scavenger hunt with the mascots Flo and Freddy

Permanent exhibitions

• Stadt – Land – Fluss – Biological permanent exhibition on habitats in and around Dortmund – from urban canyons and gardens through fields and forest to the Ruhr and Möhnesee with a large aquarium.
• In einer Stadt vor unserer Zeit – Geological permanent exhibition from the Ice Age through the Cretaceous and Carboniferous to the formation of the solar system, with a mammoth skeleton and mineral cabinet.

Founded

1912

Operated by

Stadt Dortmund (Kulturbetriebe)

Director

Dr. Oliver Adrian (kommissarischer Museumsdirektor)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the permanent exhibition is free; only special exhibitions charge admission. Free admission including with the RuhrTopCard (once), Dortmund-Pass, for members of the friends' association, and with a DMB or ICOM card; 10% discount with the CityPower-Card.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to the museum, largely accessible with a wheelchair-accessible restroom. Folding stools can be borrowed at the ticket desk. Pets are not allowed, except guide dogs and assistance dogs. Checked under the "Reisen für Alle" labeling system.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

Museum scavenger hunt with the mammoth girl Flo and the mouse Freddy (€0.50 at the ticket desk); media and hands-on stations in the exhibition. Children's birthday parties (120 min., max. 10 children, €104 plus materials) on the Stone Age (ages 7 and up) or dinosaurs (ages 6 and up). During school holidays, holiday weeks and children's workshops, as well as sleepovers in the museum.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers
• Wi-Fi

Café Kreidezeit: Fri–Sun and public holidays 11:00–17:30, Tue–Thu during school holidays 11:00–15:00 (outside the holidays, Tue–Thu possibly closed when business is slow). Free coat check; lockers with a €1 coin or token; backpacks, large bags and umbrellas must be locked away. Wi-Fi via Freifunk. Food and drinks brought from outside are not allowed in the exhibition.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit