My first time ... Nature Museum Winterthur

"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.

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.

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.