Museum of Natural History in the Ottoneum

The Natural History Museum at the Ottoneum is one of the region’s most popular attractions. Here, you can embark on a journey through time to ancient deserts, ocean floors, and Ice Age steppes, home to dinosaurs, sharks, and mammoths. Interactive exhibits, special exhibitions, and an extensive program of events make the museum a truly memorable destination.

The museum is especially popular with families and groups of children. In addition to guided tours and workshops, the dedicated museum education program always offers a wide range of events.

An Exhibition Venue with a Long History
In 1606, the Ottoneum was Germany’s first permanent building constructed exclusively for theatrical purposes and was state-of-the-art at the time. In 1696, it underwent a major renovation to temporarily house the landgrave’s collections. Today, these natural history rarities are once again on display at the Ottoneum and are among the oldest of their kind in Europe. For this reason, an entire exhibition floor is dedicated to them. Valuable items, such as the Ratzenberger Herbarium from 1592, the large skeleton of the “Goethe Elephant,” and the Schildbach Wooden Library with its 530 exquisitely crafted wooden books from the 18th century, are attractively displayed here.