Learning about natural history via interactive gadgets
Are you sometimes stumped by the questions asked by your curious kids? Do you wish to learn more about the flora and fauna indigenous to Germany? Or are you simply looking for something interesting to do on a rainy afternoon? In any case, the Museum Mensch und Natur (Museum of Man and Nature) is certainly right for you.
The museum, tucked away in a wing of Nymphenburg Palace, was originally built for Das Deutsche Jagd und Fischerei Museum (German Hunting and Fishing Museum), which is now located in Kaufingerstrasse. The Museum Mensch und Natur, which opened in 1990, now houses part of the Bavarian State Collection of Natural History, which is presented in an entertaining, yet educational way.
Throughout the museum, dioramas of animals and their natural habitats as well as audiovisual programs, videos, quizzes and interactive monitors — a button-pushers delight — invite visitors to discover new facts, while testing existing knowledge. The ground floor of the museum includes an exploration of the universe and the genesis of Earth. Here, visitors can follow the development of life on this planet, from the earliest life forms through the age of dinosaurs to the evolution of man. Models of extinct life forms combined with fossils give a vivid impression of past ages. “The Colorful World of Minerals” explains the chemical makeup of crystals, quartz and semiprecious and precious stones, some of which are on display.
Ascending to the second floor, museum-goers leave the past behind and reenter the present. “Food for Mankind” focuses on world hunger, pet care and the effect livestock has on soil. In an effort to emphasize the value — rather than the menacing nature — of bugs, “The Variety of Species” includes a delightfully interactive question-and-answer section on spiders. “Playful Natural History” is the biggest hit among adults and children alike. Through the use of taxidermy exotic creatures of the jungle are displayed in the dioramas of South America’s tropical rain forests, in the museum’s “Man and Nature in America” section. More complicated topics, such as “Nerves and the Brain,” are also explained in an entertaining way. Here, the nervous system is represented by transparent plastic “human bodies,” with flashing lights used to illustrate nerve impulses. Genetics, DNA, cloning and gene technology employed in agriculture, subjects most of us hear about regularly but never fully comprehend, are discussed in laymen’s terms in the final corner of the collection, “Gene Worlds.”
All in all, the museum is not only worth one but several visits if you want to experience every gadget at each station. If you are a first-time visitor, it is perhaps best to start on the top floor, where most of the interactive displays are located, and work your way down. One disadvantage is that all explanatory panels and all interactive and audiovisual displays are in German. A tour of the collection with non-German-speaking children might prove to be exhausting for parents, who no doubt, will be bombarded with questions.
The Museum Mensch und Natur also holds temporary exhibitions and offers special programs during school holidays. From October 13, 2000, to January 7, 2001, the exhibition “Glanzlichter 2000” — 80 prize-winning photographs, chosen in a recent international nature photography competition — will be on display.
The museum is open daily, except Mondays, from 9:00 to 17:00. It is closed on Faschingsdienstag, December 24, 25 and New Year’s Eve. Admission is DM 3 for adults, DM 1.50 for students, and is free for children under 15 when accompanied by a parent. Free entry is offered on Sundays and public holidays. Special tours of the collection, also in German, are given every Wednesday at 15:30 and sometimes on Sundays. For more information on the museum’s collection visit Museum Mensch und Natur’s Website at
Museum Mensch und Natur
Schloss Nymphenburg
Tel. (089) 17 13 82;
Fax (089) 178 43 80
