Events at the Museum of Natural History in October
1 to 31 October
Interactive exhibition: Museum experience
Location: Museum of Natural History Chemnitz, Moritzstraße 20
Admission: Visiting the "Interactive Exhibition: Museum Experience" is free of charge. A valid admission ticket is required for the tour of the permanent and special exhibition.
A forest that stretches back 291 million years into the history of the earth and a permanent exhibition that has been standing for 20 years - time to change something in our museum! We want to retell the stories about the life and death of our fossilised tree giants and bring much more from the collections to light. In recent years, children and young people have been thinking about what our museum should offer in the future. Using games, animated films and audio contributions they developed themselves, they brought primordial dinosaurs, scorpions and giant dragonflies to life for the experience level of the new permanent exhibition. The resulting interactive stations were tested by young and old alike. We have taken these requests for changes on board and now you can discover, play and dream again.
1 to 31 October
Special exhibition "Wild neighbours - animals of the Ore Mountains"
Location: Museum of Natural History Chemnitz, Moritzstraße 20
Admission: 4 euros, 2.50 euros (reduced), children and young people up to 18 years free of charge
From the water bat measuring just a few centimetres to the 300-kilogram red deer and from the nocturnal predator eagle owl to the slender diurnal adder - the fauna of the Ore Mountains is diverse and has many a surprise in store alongside the well-known representatives of the four-legged and bird world. For example, the crane, which is considered a bird of happiness in many cultures: breeding cranes were observed on the Ore Mountain ridge for the first time in 2021. Or the shy pine marten, which looks very similar to its cousin, the stone marten - but unlike the latter, avoids human settlements. Or the black grouse - a chicken bird threatened with extinction, whose largest habitat north of the Alps is the moors and sparse forests of the Ore Mountains.
And last but not least, the wolf - a success story, as the reintroduction of wolves is a natural process that humans are only supporting by not intervening. The exhibition "Wild Neighbours | Animals of the Ore Mountains", which opens at the Museum of Natural History Chemnitz in Tietz on 27 March 2024, portrays a total of 28 animal species. Fascinating images by six animal photographers will be on display, flanked by original specimens of the animals. Wildlife camera footage from various locations in the Ore Mountains, which was set up as part of the wolf monitoring programme, will also be shown on four screens in a continuous loop.
The exhibition takes visitors through the typical habitats of the animal species, from urban areas to the heavily over-developed cultural landscape to near-natural forests and mountain regions. In addition to native animal species such as the wild boar and the cuckoo, the exhibition also includes invasive species such as the raccoon and the raccoon dog, which were introduced by humans and have been spreading in Central Europe for several decades. This also applies to two of the four deer species presented: while the roe deer and the red deer are indigenous, the fallow deer and the sika deer came to Germany as game for hunting.
Thursday, 3 October, 9 and 11 a.m.
Doors open with the mouse 2024 - HAI alarm in Chemnitz
Location: Chemnitz Museum of Natural History, Moritzstraße 20
Admission: free of charge, duration: 1 to 1.5 hours, from 5 years, max. 10 children
Just like sharks team up with ship-keeping fish*, employees of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz have done the same. We have pooled our knowledge of sharks and want to share it with curious mouse fans. We will get to the bottom of exciting questions: How long have sharks existed on our planet? What is the structure of a shark and what remains when it dies? Do all sharks live in the sea? And do sharks actually have to brush their teeth? To answer these questions, we will go in search of fossilised sharks that lived 330 million years ago where Chemnitz is today.
* The motto of the Doors Open with the Mouse 2024 campaign day is Doing it Together.
Wednesday, 16 October, 6.30 to 7.30 pm
Friends of the Chemnitz Museum of Natural History e. V.
Lecture by Michael Laaß
Venue: Tietz, museum education centre, 1st floor
Admission: free of charge
Lecture on life over 300 million years ago: Insect infestation on plants from the coal forest.
Saturday and Sunday, 26 and 27 October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day
#Sachsens_Obstkultur_entdecken - fruit show with variety identification
Location: Museum of Natural History Chemnitz, Moritzstraße 20
Admission: 4 euros, free for children and young people up to the age of 18 (exhibition and family programmes)
The event under the motto #Sachsens_ObstKULTUR_entdecken has now become a tradition at the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz. The pomologists Manfred Schrambke and Kai Geringswald and the museum as organiser agree: "This format appeals to fruit lovers in the city and the region. The event also provides an insight into the complex tools required to identify fruit varieties".
The apple exhibition provides an insight into the variety of shapes, smells and flavours of Saxon fruit varieties. In addition to the Yellow Saxon Renette, Saffron Apple, Maibier's Parmäne, Saxon King Apple, Upper Lusatian Muscat Renette and the pear variety Minister Doktor Lucius, the Saxon Fruit Variety of the Year 2024, the Lusatian Clove Apple, will also be on display(https://www.pomologen-verein.de/obstsorte-des-jahres/). Visitors' particularly rare fruit treasures can be integrated directly into the exhibition. We are curious to see which varieties were able to withstand the late frosts and worm damage this year.
We have been able to engage the services of two experienced pomologists from the region, Manfred Schrambke and Kai Gehringswald, to carry out the variety analyses that will take place parallel to the exhibition. Historical fruit varieties can be identified in this way. To identify an apple variety on the basis of the fruit, three to five typical, well-coloured and undamaged fruits should be available. The stalk, core and seed must be intact.
The colours and shapes of the fruits are as varied as their taste and use. It is not uncommon for the regional varieties to be endangered. These old fruit varieties are just as much a cultural asset as historical buildings, songs and customs. With the help of the event format, the diversity of the historically grown fruit culture in Chemnitz and the region is to be visualised until at least 2025.
On the two action days (26 and 27 October 2024), our visitors can look forward to the following programme items:
10 am to 12.30 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm:
Variety identification with Chemnitz pomologists Manfred Schrambke and Kai Gehringswald on the 1st floor of the Museum of Natural History
In the "Apple Kids Club" we offer family programmes for nature explorers thirsty for knowledge. The programmes are accompanied by representatives of the Saxony regional group of the Pomologists' Association.
The campaign is realised under the leadership of the Pomologen-Verein e. V. Landesgruppe Sachsen.