Natural History Museum of the Palatinate

Pfalzmuseum für Naturkunde
Natural History Museum of the Palatinate

Information Centre for the Biosphere Reserve Vosges du Nord/ Palatinate Forest, Bad Dürkheim

History and Background

The Pfalzmuseum offers a whole range of exhibits to show you about the natural history of our region. Children can experience nature with all their senses, listen to animal sounds, touch different types of animal skin or discover camouflaged insects.

The special charm of our museum comes from it´s own history, which dates from the 19th century. A local medical doctor founded the Pfalzmuseum in the 1840´s. His intention was to educate local people about medicine and hygiene. The museum still hosts some exhibits from this time including lifelike models of children infected with the typical diseases of those days such as Scharlach or Dyphteria. We also have some very grim trophys from the days of colonial hunting. These exhibits can be seen in the attic of the house called the “Room of Curiousities”.

Since it´s foundation the museum has collected a library of more than 20 000 books, the eldest dating back to the Renaissance. The collection of exhibits grows steadily, with new objects enriching the exhibition every year. These form the basis of the research and record keeping undertaken at the Pfalzmuseum. A branch of the Museum is the Geoskop on Burg Lichtenberg near Kusel.

Exhibition and Collections

Nature in all its variety is shown throughout a 1400 m2 exhibition space. From a nest with living ants to precious stones from the Westpalatinate, from a collection of delicate birds to the huge bones of a mammouth or the dermoplastic preparation of a racoon – the lively and expressive exhibitions reflect the philosophy of our house: To show each object in the ecological context of our region. Themes of our collections are:

• Biosphere Reserve Vosges du Nord/ Palatinate Forest
• Cabinet of mineral stones
• Paleontology
• Geology of the Palatinate
• Protection of Species and Sites
• Ecosystem Forest
• Fauna of the Palatinate
• Georg-von-Neumayer Polararchiv
• Insects
• Lower Animals
• World of Mushrooms
• Botany
• Mining in the Palatinate
• Room of Curiosities
• Special exhibitions

Specials

• Library of the Natural Sciences
• Information desk
• Video presentations
• Garden with local plants, pond with amphibians
• Regular lectures and presentations

Opening Hours:

Tue – Sat: 1pm – 5pm
Sun and holidays: 10am – 5pm
Mondays closed
The library opens during the opening hours of the museum and on request. Next to the museum is the café and restaurant Herzogmühle.

Fees:

EUR 2,- (adult), EUR 1,80 (reduced)
EUR 1,30 (children, students), EUR 1,- (reduced)
EUR 4,10 (Family ticket)

How to Get There:

By train: From Bad Dürkheim station it is a 25 minutes walk to the village of Grethen or five minutes by bus taking the Grethen-Isenach line to Herzogmühle.
By car: From the A 650 to Bad Dürkheim take the B 37 to Kaiserslautern leaving at Grethen. The museum is beside the lake Herzogweiher.

Pfalzmuseum für Naturkunde
Kaiserslauterer Straße 111
D-67098 Bad Dürkheim

Fon: +49 (0)6322 - 94 13 - 0
Fax: +49 (0)6322 - 94 13 - 11
Email: info@pfalzmuseum.bv-pfalz.de