My first time ... Nature Museum Winterthur

Editor Gretta Bott

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From native animals and stones to a mummy in the belly of a ship: a Saturday afternoon at the Winterthur Nature Museum.

"You have to see the mummy!"

"You have to see the 2,500-year-old mummy in the ship!" recommends the enthusiastic museum employee at reception: we are a little confused, after all, we are here for the "Ice Age" exhibition, which is coming to an end soon.

Mummy and ship? Our curiosity is piqued. After a little treasure hunt, we reach the "ship". And sure enough, we find ourselves in the belly of a ship that rocks, creaks and is full of wooden crates. These contain exotic souvenirs from merchants from the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum thus thematises the sometimes problematic origin of individual objects. Using these exhibits, the museum raises important questions about looted art and illustrates the topic, especially for children and young people.

Über 2'500 Jahre alt ist die Mumie in Winterthur. Das Museum stellt den Besucher:innen die Frage, ob und wie Mumien heute noch ausgestellt werden sollen.

Auch Schweizer Handelsleute waren begeisterte Sammler exotischer Tiere und Pflanzen, wie die Fracht des Schiffs im Naturmuseum zeigt.

Eines der ältesten Exponate des Naturmuseums: Das 3 Meter lange Krokodil, das seit 1664 im Besitz der Sammlung ist.

Faksimile des Passes von Robert Heinrich Sulzer. Der Ingenieur aus Winterthur bereiste England, Amerika, Japan und Indien und brachte von da viele Erinnerungen mit.

A museum for children

After the "ship", we explore the rest of the museum. We quickly realise that the museum is aimed at children and school classes: Countless drawers show exhibits so clearly that no additional explanations are necessary, various fur and rock samples encourage touching and many display cases at (children's) eye level make it easier to see and marvel. Where adults probably lack dates and in-depth information, the nature museum gives children very easy access to the local animal and plant world. The installation of the many birds that fly over the heads of visitors or sit on various ledges is very successful.

With its nature discovery centre and craft afternoons, the museum is a great place for a family outing. But also for enthusiastic adults like me and my girlfriend. We tried out, touched and marvelled at everything until we almost forgot about the "Ice Age" exhibition.

History of the museum:

The Winterthur Nature Museum looks back on a long history. in 1660, it was run as a natural history collection as part of the citizens' library. In addition to books and handwritten documents, it collected coins, historical artefacts, works of art, natural objects and curiosities of all kinds. One of the curiosities is the 3 metre long crocodile, which has been in the possession of the nature museum since 1664 and is still on display today. Following the professionalisation and independence of the natural history collection in 1861, the collection continued to grow. These mainly included animals from the Swiss Alps, plant exhibits and an ethnological collection, which was expanded by merchants from Winterthur with objects from India and the Far East, Africa and America in particular.