“A natural history museum is not a luxury”

Hamburg is getting a new natural history museum. This is set out in the state treaty between the Hanseatic City and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia on the establishment of the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change. The current discussions regarding the location and funding do not alter the fundamental importance and necessity of the project.

Hamburg’s First Mayor, Peter Tschentscher, has reaffirmed the commitment set out in the State Treaty and the corresponding resolution passed by the Hamburg Parliament. Senator for Science Maryam Blumenthal has also made a clear commitment to implementing the resolution adopted in 2021.

“A natural history museum is not a luxury for Hamburg. It is a vital educational resource for the city’s residents and is important for Hamburg as a centre for cutting-edge research,” emphasises Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Bernhard Misof, Director-General of the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change. “An integrated research museum brings together research, collections, exhibitions and educational programmes under one roof, thereby creating a place of learning, inspiration, active exchange and action to preserve nature – the very foundation of our lives. The crucial question, therefore, is where, not whether, there will be a site for the new natural history museum.”

Through the Museum of Nature, the LIB already has a research museum in the Grindelviertel. However, with 120,000 visitors a year, the exhibitions are reaching their capacity limits and can no longer meet the spatial and content-related requirements of a modern research museum. Misof: “Only a new building or a suitable alternative venue will make it possible to raise awareness amongst the people of Hamburg about the consequences of biodiversity change and to engage them in a dialogue on the conservation of biodiversity.”

Scientific collections and research into biodiversity and evolution also require modern facilities. As early as 2008, the German Science Council called for the provision of suitable accommodation for the valuable collection of over ten million specimens. A modern infrastructure for biodiversity and evolutionary research in the fields of zoology, geology, palaeontology and mineralogy is long overdue.

Misof: “Hamburg needs the new museum. The requirements for the next stage of planning were defined in collaboration with the city. They form the basis for examining further site options and for pressing ahead systematically with the plans for the new natural history museum.”