Natural History Museum, Berlin

Come and join a journey of discovery that begins by following the footsteps of Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin and takes you all the way to the modern-day explorers of life on earth. Every day, the approximately 200 scientists working at the Museum für Naturkunde look for answers to the great problems and challenges the future holds, relying on their scientific collections, comprising over 30 million items. Their insights shape the various permanent and special exhibitions and many special events. Some of the best-known exhibits are to be found in the Dinosaur Hall, which shows life as it might have been in the Upper Jurassic period, 150 million years ago. Giraffatitan brancai, the tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world, impressively welcomes all visitors in the center of the exhibition hall. The precious Archaeopteryx lithographica, the Mona Lisa of natural history, is elegantly displayed in a safety showcase in the back of the hall. The most prominent addition to the dinosaur collections is Tristan Otto, Europe's first original skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which has only been on display since December 2015. All of the fossil objects – and the dinosaurs in particular – still yield new secrets to scientists and researchers from all over the world. The museum offers much more than extinct fossils - the East Wing allows visitors to see a genuine scientific research collection that has received many accolades. This collection is home to about a million animals stored in 80 tonnes of alcohol. The Biodiversity Wall fascinates visitors, displaying 3,000 species in one glance. This thought-provoking installation opens up a discussion on biodiversity and its loss – a theme that remains at the heart of the museum’s research efforts. With changing temporary exhibitions and a diversified education programme including guided tours, lectures and workshops, the Museum für Naturkunde is always worth a visit.