The significance of our collection
Our museum is responsible for more than 12 million scientifically curated specimens and objects. Together, they document the diversity of life across more than 250 million years of Earth’s history. The research collection traces its origins to the art and natural history cabinets of the Dukes of Württemberg and comprises zoological, botanical, mycological, palaeontological and geological specimens collected over more than four centuries.
Today, we expand the collection strategically, study it scientifically and continually make it accessible for research, education and exhibitions. They are of international importance and form a central infrastructure for research into biological and geological diversity.
Biodiversity across 250 million years
Our research collection is not a static archive. It grows in response to the research questions pursued by our museum and is strategically expanded through new excavations, ongoing monitoring programmes and targeted collecting projects.
More than four million fossils provide insights into ecosystems of the past, including the streams and pools of the Buntsandstein, the Triassic Keuper swamps, the open marine and lagoonal ecosystems of the Jurassic, and lake deposits from the Miocene. Fossil time series reveal long-term processes such as adaptation, speciation, extinction and the development of entire ecosystems. For more than a century, the Natural History Museum Stuttgart has been investigating and documenting the world-renowned fossil localities of Baden-Württemberg.
Current and historical specimens complement the fossil record, showing how biological diversity has continued to change up to the present day. Standardised time series from a range of natural environments document how species and ecosystems are responding today to changes in their habitats and wider environmental conditions. Samples collected through these monitoring projects are preserved permanently in the research collections, ensuring that they remain available for future studies.
Together, these two perspectives provide an exceptional foundation for research. They reveal how biodiversity arises, changes and is lost across space and time, and which influences and processes have shaped its past, present and future.
Collection specimens as repositories of knowledge
Every specimen in the collections contains metadata about its age, characteristics, collecting history and scientific study. Modern molecular-genetic and imaging techniques also reveal genetic, ecological and environmental information.
This means that researchers can use a single sample to gain insights not only into one species, but also into its genetic diversity, the biological community to which it belonged and the environmental conditions in which it lived. The collection thus becomes a comprehensive repository of knowledge for biodiversity research.
Creating a digital collection through new methods
The Natural History Museum Stuttgart is making increasing parts of its collection digitally available. High-resolution imaging, 3D reconstruction, genetic analyses, environmental DNA and computer-based methods open up new ways of studying specimens without damaging them.
Artificial intelligence also supports the recording and analysis of large amounts of data. This makes it possible, for example, to compare species and traits more efficiently, integrate historical and current data, and process large numbers of samples semi-automatically – such as those collected in comprehensive statewide monitoring projects.
Digital access to the collection makes it available far beyond the museum. Through databases such as the museum’s digital catalogue, research infrastructures and international data portals such as GBIF (the Global Biodiversity Information Facility), researchers can link this information with other datasets and investigate large-scale research questions.
Accessing the research collections
The research collection is available to researchers for scientific study. By prior arrangement, specimens can be examined in the museum’s collection and workspaces or – provided that the relevant conservation and legal requirements are met – loaned for research. Special conditions apply to certain specimens, particularly type material. For further information, please contact the relevant member of our scientific staff.
National cultural heritage
Since 6th August 2016, the collection of the Natural History Museum Stuttgart has been protected as national cultural heritage. As evidence of the history of nature and science, its specimens and objects are of particular significance and are subject to special legal protection.
