The Müritzeum is a visitor centre and nature discovery centre for the

Müritz National Park The Müritz National Park () is a national park situated roughly in the middle between Berlin and Rostock, in the south of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It extends over large portions of the Müritz lakeland in the district of Meck ...

, located on Lake

Müritz The Müritz (; from Slavic languages, Slavic "little sea") is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. Its area is , which makes it the second largest lake in Germany (after Lake Constance) and the largest lake located entirely within ...

, near the town of Waren in the north German state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

. The concept of the visitor centre is to have an "enjoyable and interactive science-based approach" to the themes of nature and regional history. The exhibition and aquarium area is devoted to the presentation of the flora and fauna and history of the

Mecklenburg Lake District The Mecklenburg Lake Plateau or Mecklenburg Lakeland
- Federal Ministry of Economics ...

. Its centrepiece is the largest

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

for native

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

in Germany, with a capacity of 100,000 litres. More than 40 aquatic species may be seen in the 25 aquaria, with almost all of Mecklenburg's native species, including rare

crustacea Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

and

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s. Thematic exhibition areas cover the underwater world, birds, forests, the region's history and the moor. The 1000-year-old oaks at Ivenack, the

fieldstone church A fieldstone church () is a type of church, built using fieldstone of glacial erratics and glacial rubble. Such cathedrals and monasteries occur mostly in areas where the ice ages have deposited such rock material on the one hand, and where on t ...

and estate villages form other topics in the exhibition. There is also an adventure garden and adventure playground. The film in the site's multi-vision cinema gives overview on the checkered history of Mecklenburg. The foundation stone of the 13 million euro and 2,000-square-metre building was laid on 14 December 2005. The first phase was completed in June 2006 and it was opened on 2 August 2007. The building is entirely covered with charred (''angekohlt'')

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

wood. Just as the Mecklenburg Lake District is known as the "Land of a Thousand Lakes", the Müritzeum describes itself as the "House of a Thousand Lakes". As a visitor centre, the Müritzeum provides information for visitors and tourists about the cultural and tourist attractions of the Mecklenburg Lake District and the

. The Müritzeum is supported by the collections of the Müritz Museum, with its 140-year history, the Natural History Collection of the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Müritz Aquarium. The Müritz Museum was the precursor of the Müritzeum. In 1866, the first collection was created when Hermann von Maltzan founded as the Maltzan Natural History Museum for Mecklenburg (''Maltzan`sches Naturhistorisches Museums für Mecklenburg'') or ''Maltzaneum'' for short. At the Müritzeum, as part of the Natural History State Collection of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, are about 275,000 exhibits, especially

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

, insects, eggs, bird specimens, antlers and a geological collection. The library of approximately 16,000 volumes, mainly focuses on "Mecklenburgica" and scientific literature on botany, zoology, geology and natural history.

Design

The building was designed by Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh. The architect explains the building: "Two cones, slightly shifted in plan, shape the building. The circular form opens up, by sharp cuts, with the entrance cutting as the most prominent...The floating character of the building corresponds to the setting on the lake."

References

External links

Müritzeum website homepage

Gert Wingårdh website homepage
- ''images = projects ->public ->Müritzeum'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Muritzeum Gert Wingårdh buildings Natural history museums in Germany Museums in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Buildings and structures completed in 2007 Architecture in Germany Museums established in 2007 Nature centres in Germany Waren (Müritz) 2007 establishments in Germany