Museum of Geoscience

With more than four million individual objects and series of rocks, minerals, fossils, meteorites and precious gems, the geoscientific collections at the University of Göttingen on the North Campus is one of the largest of their kind in Europe with one of the richest histories of tradition. The beginnings of the collections trace back to the Cabinet of Mineralogy/Geology belonging to Samuel Christian Hollmann and soon earned its great importance for research and teaching in Göttingen with the foundation of the Königlich Academische Museum in 1773.

Under the direction of the anthropologist and naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, it was possible to greatly expand the geoscientific areas of collection through donations and purchases. It was in this manner that parts of the collection of the polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz came to Göttingen and have remained preserved to this day.

In 1878, several University collections – zoology, ethnology, geology, palaeontology, mineralogy – were unified in the newly built Museum of Natural History. Spatial issues led to their separation: Since the beginning of the 1970s, the entire geoscientific collections are kept in their current location in the northern region of the University and are displayed in sections. The geopark is also located there with rambling grounds, scattered with large geoscientific objects.

Visitors to the museum can explore the 2000 square meters of exhibition space and gain a fascinating insight into the history of the earth and development of life on our planet. The exhibitions and objects also give information as to the origin of minerals as well as different geological processes, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and plate tectonics.

Aside from the opening hours of Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm as well as Sundays from 10 am to 1 pm, »Event Sundays« take place regularly and are accompanied by an attractive programme. Tours can be organised at any time upon request. The activities of the Museum of Geosciences are supported by the »Friends of the Geosciences at the University of Göttingen« (Verein der Freunde der Geowissenschaften der Universität Göttingen e.V.).

Further information

• Museum of Geosciences at the University of Göttingen
• Directions / UniTour