The permanent exhibition seeks to address the questions “What is life and how did it begin?”, encapsulated in a single word: change – the change of matter, form, scale, and transformation through time and space. Drawing on objects from the museum’s collections, it presents the diversity of organisms shaped by evolution across geological history, their present-day variety, the relationships between them, and the threats species face today.
The new exhibition extends across three floors. It opens in a multimedia hall with the theme of the Universe, accompanied by meteorite specimens. Visitors are then introduced to the variety of rocks through the petrological collection, followed by the evolution of minerals and their significance in the systematic study of mineralogy. The display continues with the physical properties of minerals and a presentation of the museum’s unique specialist collections.
The mineralogical and petrological section leads into fossil remains of past life on Earth and the theory of evolution through the work of Darwin and Wallace – a transition from the inanimate to the living world. Geological history is explored on the first floor in the geological and palaeontological section, while recent biological diversity is presented on the second floor through zoological and botanical displays. A digital “Tree of Life” presentation is also featured in the temporary exhibition space.
The first-floor narrative guides visitors through the history of our planet over some 4.6 billion years, from the age of the supercontinent Pangaea and the dominance of reptiles in the Jurassic to the Palaeogene and the emergence of the world we know today, culminating in the rise of early humans during the climatic fluctuations of the Quaternary. This section concludes with an exclusive thematic gallery dedicated to the Neanderthal from Krapina and the story of the Krapina diluvium.
On the second floor, visitors encounter today’s living world and the threats to biodiversity. Three-dimensional habitat reconstructions, the Tree of Life, the plant kingdom, the museum’s largest collections of insects, as well as the diversity of invertebrates and vertebrates, are all presented. The exhibition concludes by highlighting the role of natural history museums, tracing the institution’s own story back to 1846, and underscoring its enduring importance in safeguarding natural heritage as a witness to both time and space.
- 4/9/2025, Thursday / 10:00–20:00
- 5/9/2025, Friday / 10:00–20:00
- 6/9/2025, Saturday / 10:00–20:00
- 7/9/2025, Sunday / 10:00–20:00
