Natural History Museum of Denmark

The museum became an organizational entity in 2004 with the merger of Copenhagen's Zoological Museum, Geological Museum, Botanical Museum and Central Library, and Botanical Gardens (Zoological Museum, Geological Museum, Botanical Museum and Botanical Garden). The collections of the Natural History Museum Denmark belong to the Danish state and the museum has the responsibility, under the Museum Act, for managing the collections and associated research and dissemination.

The Natural History Museum Denmark has exhibitions at its main address on Øster Voldgade 5-7. In addition, the museum holds lectures, guided tours and events that focus on the collections, the Botanical Garden and the researchers' current research. The museum has a school service that offers teaching to students.

On March 6th 2027, the museum will open a new building in the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen. The new museum building is designed by Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects and architect Claus Pryds. The economy behind the project is based on a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, the state and a number of private foundations; Villum Fonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, Novo Nordisk Fonden, Det Obelske Familie and A. P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal.[4]

History

The Natural History Museum Denmark was established on 1 January 2004 by the merging of four long-standing institutions: the Botanical Garden, the Botanical Museum & Central Library, the Geological Museum, and the Zoological Museum. In 2020, the combined entity was officially renamed the Natural History Museum of Denmark, effectively becoming a single museum. Whereas the locations of the Botanical Gardens and the adjacent Geological Museum have been maintained, the Zoological Museum was located separately in the Universitetsparken. This museum location closed in 2022 and will be relocated to the new and larger Natural History Museum in the northeast corner of the Botanical Gardens. The complex is expected to open in the Fall of 2026. While the separate Zoological Museum has closed, its research and storage facilities at its old location have been maintained.

The history of the individual departments, which now are part of the united Natural History Museum of Denmark, can be traced back to the 17th century. One historical figure in particular played a crucial role in the creation of the Danish national heritage, namely Ole Worm (1588–1654). His cabinet of natural curiosities, the Museum Wormianum, formed together with the Royal Danish Cabinet of Curiosities the nucleus of what later would become the Geological Museum and the Zoological Museum. In 1621 Ole Worm also became the director of the Botanical Garden, which at that time had been quite neglected. Here he introduced a large variety of medicinal plants and rare species from abroad.

Today the Natural History Museum of Denmark is organized under the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen.