The National Museum of Natural History (, ,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Nationalmuseum für Naturgeschichte'') is a

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

, in southern

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The museum is located in the Grund quarter on the eastern bank of the

Alzette The Alzette (; ; ) is a river with a length of in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer (a tributary to the Moselle), and ultimately to the Rhine. It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle '' ...

river, next to the

Neumünster Abbey Neumünster () is a city in the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality in Schleswig-Holstein (behind Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg). The ''Holstenhallen'' and ...

cultural centre. The museum is composed of eight separate scientific sections, spanning the

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

and

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

palaeontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...

vertebrate zoology Vertebrate zoology is the biological discipline that consists of the study of Vertebrate animals, i.e., animals with a backbone, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Many natural history museums have departments named ''Vertebrat ...

, and

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

zoology.

History

The Society of the Natural Sciences was established in 1850, under the patronage of Prince Henry, the newly appointed Governor of Luxembourg representing

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

William III. The society's primary aim was the promotion of the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

to the general population. To achieve this, the government put at the society's disposal a section of the city Athenaeum, now the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

. Opening its doors in 1854, this area hosted a number of cabinets displaying

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

specimens, spread across three rooms. After almost four decades of this arrangement, pressure for display area caused the museum to move into its own premises, at the Vauban Barracks in Pfaffenthal, in 1892. However, these were criticised for being unattractive to visitors, hence undermining the museum's attempts to promote natural history to the general public.In 1922, the museum moved once again. The new site was the Old Gendarmerie, on the Fishmarket, in the historic heart of Luxembourg City, which the museum shared with the National Museum of History and Art. Purchased by the government, the building, along with a neighbouring house, were initially unsuitable for the housing of the museum, and the state embarked upon a renovation programme, during which time, the collections were closed to the general public, causing much public anger. The renovations had almost been completed by the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but the German occupation caused the museum to move again temporarily to protect its collections. Despite the war, the building in Fishmarket was virtually undamaged, allowing the museum to re-occupy the premises immediately. In 1946, a temporary installation was opened, marking the museum's return to its original purpose, thirty-four years after its closure. By 1952, the last room had been opened, marking a return to normal operation. It was in the decades following the war that the museum diversified away from its core activities, engaging in fields such as

and

; such was the museum's commitment to these fields that it was the owner of the first

electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it ...

in the country. However, the expansion of the museum into these additional fields put added pressure on the space of the museum in Fishmarket, particularly as the National Museum of History and Art was also expanding. After a decade-long search for a suitable new site, on 11 January 1990, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

agreed to restore Saint Jean's Hospice, in Grund. The new site was opened in June 1996, spread across three buildings, each dedicated to a different aspect of the museum's functions: collection displays, teaching classrooms, and research laboratories.

Notable holdings

* Loschbour man

Footnotes

External links

*
National Museum of Natural History official website
{{coord, 49.60969, 6.13565, format=dms, region:LU_type:landmark, display=title

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Museums established in 1854 1854 establishments in Luxembourg

History

Notable holdings

See also

Footnotes

External links