Highlights

In over 260 years of collection tradition many specimen found their way into the museum. Here we would like to present a number of the most impressive specimen. Chosen by our museum director and curators.

Rarities from the collection

The great bustard diorama was installed in 1951. In Lower Saxony, the last great bustard bred in 1860 near Schöppenstedt and in the northeast of the Braunschweiger Börde until 1885. — Diorama with great bustards (Otis tarda)
© Peter Sierigk

Fossil sea lily (Chelocrinus schlotheimi) — Fossil sea lily (Chelocrinus schlotheimi)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Fossil remains of the ichthyosaur Stenopterygius, Lias, Schandelah — Stenopterygius, Lias, Schandelah
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Corundum variety ruby from the mineral collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Corundum variety ruby
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The aurochs, also known as urus, is the ancestor of domestic cattle. During the Roman Age, aurochs were still quite common, even though domestic cattle were already being reared. It was popular for hunting among the nobility in the Middle Ages which led to its extinction during the Thirty Years' War. This specimen was found together with other bones in the former "Alvesser Moor" (west of Brunswick) in 1875. — Skeleton of an aurochs (Bos primigenius)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

This pair of stockings was made from the byssus threads of the noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis). These filaments the clam uses to attach itself to rocks or the seabed are so delicate but tear-resistant that they have been used to make sea silk since the classical age. — Sea silk stockings made from the Noble pen shell
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) from the collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) from the collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The fossil remains of the Spinophorosaurus nigerensis were excavated and described by a team from the museum on an expidition to the Niger in 2007. — Spinophorosaurus in the Dinosaur Hall of the Natural History Museum
© Marek Kruszewski

This partial skeleton of the sauropod Jobaria tiguidensis was recovered by the excavation team of the Naturhistorisches Museum in the Republic of the Niger in 2008. — Partial skeleton of Jobaria
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Velvet worms (Peripatopsis sedgwicki) from the colelction of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Braunschweig — Velvet worms (Peripatopsis sedgwicki)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The shell of the zigzag venus is quite smooth and has concentric growth lines. It is cream-colored and has an eye-catching, brown zigzag pattern, reminiscent of pointy tents or a mountain range. The clam grows up to 5 cm big and is fairly common in the Indo-Pacific. There it lives in shallow waters buried in the sand beneath coral reefs. This specimen was collected in 1780. — Zigzag venus (Lioconcha castrensis)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

On March 17, 1818 the last lynx (Lynx lynx) of the Harz mountains was shot after a spectacular hunt. The specimen in its diorama has been shown by the Natural History Museum since 1944. Since 2000 new lynxes were released into the Harz mountains again. — The last lynx (Lynx lynx) of the Harz mountains
© Peter Sierigk

Pyrite from the mineral collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Pyrite cube
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Humerus (upper arm bone) of the pterosaur Dorygnathus — Humerus (upper arm bone) of the pterosaur Dorygnathus
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Male platypuses have venomous ankle spurs on their hind limbs which they use to injure their opponents during rival fights. Unlike most other mammals they have a total of 10 sex chromosomes and not the usual 2. This specimen was collected in 1931. — Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Ammonite (Amaltheus margaritatus) — Ammonite (Amaltheus margaritatus)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The great auk was the biggest of the auk birds, which can solely be found in the Northern Hemisphere. They are the ecological counterpart to penguins who live in the Southern Hemisphere. Even though they aren't related to each other, they developed many similarities because of similar habitat conditions. The great auk was brought to extinction by humans in the middle of the 19th century. — Great auk (Pinguinus impennis)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Solid gold from the mineral collection of the Natural History Museum — Pure gold
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The noble pen shell mostly lives near coasts. It uses byssus filaments to attach itself to the ocean bed. These threads are so delicate but tear-resistant that they have been used to make sea silk since the classical age. Our sea silk stockings in the "Schatzkammer" exhibit are made of byssus threads. Today because of its edibility and the pollution of its habitat the noble pen shell is critically endangered and strictly protected. — Noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

[Translate to English:] Verziertes Nautilus-Gehäuse — Adorned nautilus shell
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

During its development the river mussel goes through a parasitic larva stage, the glochidium. These larvae latch onto the gills of fish to use them for transportation (phoresis) and to extract nutrients from their tissue. This specimen was collected in France in 1874. — River mussel (Anodonta cellensis)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Quartz variety amethyst from the mineral collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Quartz variety amethyst
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

With an average size of 15 cm, the emperor scorpion is one of the biggest species of the Scorpionidae family. It lives in the tropical forests of West and Central Africa. It is one of the few species of scorpions that can live in groups. Emperor scorpions aren't very aggressive and don't attack each other. Food shortages can, however, lead to cannibalism. Their sting is only moderately venomous and, except for people with allergies, relatively harmless for humans. The symptoms are similar to those of a bee sting. Unlike a lot of other scorpions, the emperor scorpion doesn't use its stinger very often. This specimen was collected in 1884. — Emperor scorpion (Pandinus imperator)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Gibeon iron meteorite from the mineral collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Gibeon iron meteorite
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The name Paravipus didactyloides means "tracks of a two-toed, birdlike animal". What exactly the culprit causing these tracks in the soft African mud 160 to 170 million years ago must have looked like is unknown. — Tracks Paravipus didactyloides, Niger 2008
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Original evidence of Backeljaia gigaxii (formerly Xerophila caperata) from the stone quarry in Mascherode, collection of Victor von Koch. — Backeljaia gigaxii from Koch's collection
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Braunschweig meteorite from the mineral collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum — Braunschweig meteorite
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

[Translate to English:] Der Färöer-Kolkrabe wurde 1764 als Unterart des Europäischen Kolkraben anerkannt. Heute ist er ausgestorben und in den Museen sind nur wenige Exemplare erhalten, von denen das des Naturhistorischen Museums eines der ältesten ist. — Pied raven (Corvus corax varius morpha leucophaeus)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was first scientifically described in 1741, only 27 years later the last individual was killed by a fur trapper. Our specimen is one of the twenty skeletons that still exist worldwide. It is a fossilized skeleton, around 400-600 years old, and found its way into the ducal collection in 1907. — Skeleton of a Steller's sea cow
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Warikahnite from the mineral collection of the Natural History Museum in Braunschweig — Warikahnite
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Fossil remains of a ray-finned fish with ganoid scales (Lepidotes gigas) — Ray-finned fish with ganoid scales (Lepidotes gigas)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

This bat was first described as Vesperugo maurus by J. H. Blasius in 1853. Today it is ascribed to Hypsugo savii. — Savi's pipistrelle bat (syntype of J. H. Blasius)
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

Quartz, mountain crystal variety from the mineral collection of the Natural History Museum in Braunschweig — Quartz, mountain crystal variety
© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum