Natural History Museum
Oslo's Natural History Museum invites you to explore the diversity of nature in the Botanical Garden and exhibitions on zoology, geology and climate changes.
The Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo (Norwegian: Naturhistorisk museum, NHM) is Norway's oldest and largest museum of natural history. It is situated in the neighborhood of Tøyen in Oslo, Norway.
Detail of the Apollo 17 exhibit from the Geological museum, showing a Moon rock and a space flown Norwegian flag.
It traces its roots to the University Botanical Garden, which was founded near Tøyen Manor in 1814. Museums for zoology, botany and geology were added approximately a hundred years later, when the university campus in central Oslo had become too small for such purposes. Major proponents were Waldemar Christofer Brøgger and Nordal Wille. For most of the twentieth century the museums and botanical garden were organized in five different entities; these were merged on 1 August 1999. The current name dates from 2005.
The Zoological Museum displaying wildlife from Norway as well as the rest of the world. The Botanical Garden contains 35,000 plants, 7,500 species and two exhibition greenhouses. The Geological Museum contain research material of more than 2 million fossils, rock specimens and minerals. A selection of specimens are on display in both the Geological Museum and the Zoological Museum. Among the attractions is the Darwinius masillae fossil "Ida", a primate from the Eocene Epoch.
Collections
The museum's herbarium and fungarium are among the largest natural history collections in Norway. In a 2023 overview, the Natural History Museum reported that its botanical and mycological collections together held more than 1.7 million specimens, including about 1.1 million plants, 270,000 lichens and 330,000 fungi. Much of this material has been digitized and made searchable through the museum's own collections portal and through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
The Arctic has long been a major area of collecting and research for the museum. A 2023 survey of the collections recorded more than 233,000 Arctic plant, lichen and fungal specimens, with the oldest dating back more than 200 years. The holdings are circumpolar in scope, but are especially strong for northern mainland Norway and Svalbard. They also preserve material from major polar expeditions, including the second Fram expedition, the Gjøa expedition and the Maud expedition, as well as later twentieth-century collecting campaigns.
The museum also holds a large body of nomenclatural type material from Arctic regions and maintains a DNA bank for botanical and mycological research. According to the same survey, the Arctic collections included 984 identified type collections, while the DNA bank held 22,879 Arctic accessions of plants, lichens and fungi. These collections support taxonomic, biogeographical and conservation research, and have become increasingly useful as historical records of Arctic biodiversity during a period of rapid environmental change.
Exhibitions
Evolution of Life
Join us on a journey through time, from the very first organisms to present-day life forms. Learn about important evolutionary events in various groups of animals and plants. Meet dinosaurs, whales, and humans, among others.
The Earth and life have evolved together over billions of years. Microorganisms, fungi, plants, and animals continuously form new shapes with new adaptations, while the climate changes, continents shift, and major natural disasters steer evolution in new directions.
Researchers are trying to form a picture of these processes, both to understand how we got to where we are and to be able to make predictions about the future. Fossils are perhaps the most important clues for reading and understanding the history of the Earth and life.
The exhibition consists of two large rooms. Here, we present snapshots of ecosystems throughout geological time, from the first organisms to the life forms of today. We also showcase some important evolutionary events in selected groups of animals and plants.
Norwegian Animals – Explore Our Native Fauna
Experience Norwegian wildlife and the natural environments they inhabit. From sculpins on the ocean floor to the highest, windswept mountain peak where the ptarmigan thrives. The exhibition Norwegian Animals – originally called Norwegian Hall – was completed in 1980. The displays consist of over 50 cases showcasing recreated typical natural environments from Norway and examples of the animals that inhabit them, also known as natural history dioramas.
The exhibitions are designed with a gradual ascent, allowing the experience to take the form of a journey from the coast with life on the ocean floor to animals thriving on bare mountains in the interior. In the final part of the exhibition, we offer glimpses of the Arctic wildlife of Svalbard.
Next to most of the dioramas, you will find digital touchscreen displays where children and adults can learn more about the animals presented in the cases. Similar exhibitions have been removed over the years in favor of other displays at many museums around the world. Our diorama exhibitions therefore represent a truly unique depiction of nature that cannot be experienced in many other places.
Animals of the world – A Zoogeographical Journey
Visit animals from around the world organized by geographic regions - from penguins in the icy landscapes of Antarctica to chimpanzees and okapis in the lush African rainforests. Why are hummingbirds only found in North and South America, while gulls are present on all continents? There are many reasons why animals live where they do. Environmental conditions such as temperature, precipitation, and the presence of other species play a significant role in the living conditions and adaptations of a species. Additionally, historical climate changes and the movement of tectonic plates have been crucial in determining how animals are distributed across different corners of the globe. In recent centuries, human activities such as urban development, agriculture, and hunting have also significantly altered the habitats of various animal species.
In the exhibition The World's Animals, you can take a journey around our planet and discover which animal species inhabit different types of environments or habitats. The exhibition consists of 25 display cases showcasing typical animals from various habitats across Earth's seven biogeographical regions.
In the exhibition, you will also find one of the museum's most valuable objects—the Tasmanian tiger. The thylacine lived on the island of Tasmania, south of Australia, but the species is now believed to be extinct, largely due to hunting by humans. The last known living individual died in a zoo in Tasmania in 1936. There are only a little over 100 taxidermied thylacines globally, and our specimen is considered one of the best in the world. In this part of the exhibition, you can learn more about what threatens the Earth's biodiversity and see examples of how the habitats of various animal species have shrunk over the past 100 years.
We Are in It Now - Climate change
A unique and interactive exhibition about climate change, its causes, consequences, and solutions.
Experience the feeling of standing in the midst of a swarm of bees or rising sea levels. Touch melting ice, a volcanic bomb, and peer into a world that is three degrees warmer. Take our interactive quiz and discover what your strengths are in the fight against climate change! The exhibition "We Are in It Now" invites you to explore, look up, listen, and touch the objects.
Designed for a young audience, the exhibition presents a serious topic in a way that provides an engaging experience for the whole family, offering hope for the future.
History of an ocean
How is a sea actually formed? Learn about the geological history of the North Sea and the Barents Sea, as well as the life that once lived there. The North Atlantic has existed for just under 200 million years. Evidence of the formation of the sea, and the life that existed both before and after, is still preserved in the seabed.
We can drill deep into this seabed to retrieve fossils and sediments, allowing us to uncover the history of the North Sea. Some of the seabed further north in the Barents Sea has ended up as land, now forming Svalbard. On land, it is easier to find fossils, so the stories can be told in even greater detail.
In this exhibition, we present the geological history of the marine area from the North Sea to the Barents Sea.
The exhibition covers the formation of rocks, geologists' search for resources, fossils as witnesses of time, and plate tectonics as a driving force in the opening of a sea.
All of this is conveyed through a deep dive into the geology of the North Sea, which we have detailed knowledge of through the mapping conducted by the oil industry.
Stories from space
Stones from space can tell us about the Earth's childhood. An exhibition about meteorites and our own solar system. The Earth was formed around 4.5 billion years ago, and the solar system about 50 million years earlier. This knowledge comes to us through, among other things, rocks. The age of meteorites has helped us date the age of our own solar system. The oldest stones preserved on Earth are around 4.3 billion years old. In the exhibition, we have a meteorite that is as old as our own solar system, the Allende meteorite.
The exhibition features many interactive elements, and several of the meteorites can be touched.
The exhibition is divided into two parts: On one side, you can explore meteorites—space rocks that have survived their journey to the Earth's surface. On the other side, you can delve into the solar system. An installation in the center of the exhibition represents a section of the asteroid belt.
The Stone Garden
What do stones tell us? An outdoor sensory exhibition about the history of the Earth told through stone. Did you know that we can read the Earth's history in rocks? In the Stone Garden, Norway's geological history spanning over three billion years is told through large, colorful stones and impressive structures. Discover how to interpret rocks to understand their origins and the connections between geology and important minerals, such as metals.
The Stone Garden is free and open to everyone. The exhibition is designed for children to explore the world of rocks through their senses and movement.
The Crystal Cave
Explore a reconstructed cave with stunning crystals from actual mines, and experience fluorescent minerals from various corners of the world. Enter a reconstructed cave featuring crystals from real mine tunnels, and experience fluorescent minerals from various corners of the world.
Move into a reconstructed cave created from 20 tons of crystals. The crystals have been sourced from the limestone quarries beneath Brevik and Eidangerfjorden, where world-class calcite crystals have been found.
The exhibition also presents a collection of various types of calcite and other minerals. A special section showcases spectacular fluorescent minerals from around the globe.
Wait for the lights to turn on and off for a true experience of stone magic!
Minerals and Rocks
Minerals are found everywhere. They form our bedrock and are important raw materials for most products we use in our daily lives.
The natural processes occurring in the Earth and on the surface cause minerals to break down and form new shapes and colors continuously. In this exhibition, we showcase a wide variety of these beautiful, useful, rare, and unique objects from the museum's collection.
The exhibition covers the systematics, properties, occurrences, and applications of minerals. Some historical Norwegian mines and geological specialties are elaborated upon in a dedicated section of the exhibition that focuses on Norway's geology.
The displays and furnishings in the exhibition have been preserved just as they were when the museum opened in 1920. The character of the hall remains intact, providing the backdrop for a classic exhibition.
Endangered nature – threats against biodiversity
Nature is under pressure, more than ever before. At the same time, our knowledge of its fundamental role for our existence has never been greater. This exhibition portrays the greatest threats against the world's biodiversity and what can be done to prevent loss of nature.
Nature is wonderfully beautiful with its endless diversity of colors and shapes. We are also completely dependent on it. Everything we eat, drink, produce, and the air we breathe originally comes from nature.
In this exhibition, we present the main threats to nature's diversity. You will encounter animals that are at risk of disappearing due to human impact, such as lions, elephants, and pangolins. You will also see animals that are already permanently gone, such as the huia birds from New Zealand and our own great auk. Today, these can only be seen in collections at natural history museums. According to the UN's biodiversity panel (IPBES), one million of the world's species are at risk of suffering the same fate.
Although nature is under significant pressure, we have also become better at protecting it. The exhibition showcases examples of animal species that have been saved from extinction through targeted conservation efforts.
Based on a report from the UN's biodiversity panel (IPBES)
The exhibition is based on the UN report on global biodiversity and threats to nature. The main threats, in order, are:
Land use changes
Overexploitation
Climate change
Pollution
Spread of invasive, harmful species to new areas
Nature's Most Beautiful – Stunning Evolution
Among bird species, there are many examples of spectacular plumage, fancy tails, and impressive songs. In this mini-exhibition, you can see representatives from some of the world's most beautiful bird groups and learn about how evolution brings forth such ornaments and songs. In many birds and other animals, there are significant differences between males and females. Usually, it is the males that compete for the favor of the females, and it is often the individuals with the most beautiful colors or the finest songs that are chosen.
This kind of selection is called sexual selection and is an important driving force behind, among other things, the peacock's tail and other striking traits in the animal kingdom.
Long tail feathers, much like vibrant feather colors, can signal potential mates about the genetic quality of the owner. So-called wattles, such as the male's comb and wattles, can reflect his current health status.
In the exhibition, we have showcased some of our most colorful birds that demonstrate what sexual selection can lead to. Many of the birds on display have never been exhibited at the museum before.
Among the beautiful birds in the exhibition, you will find hummingbirds, sunbirds, and Bluethroats from our own fauna.
Our Dynamic Earth
In this exhibition, we showcase the processes that make Earth so special and upon which all life depends.
Life distinguishes Earth from all other planets we know of. Why is Earth so different? Why does life thrive here? There are many unique factors necessary for life to be possible, and all of these are found on Earth.
We call Earth the "blue planet," and it bears little resemblance to the other planets in our solar system. It is covered by oceans and green forests, has seasons and breathable air—and it teems with life.
Moreover, Earth is always changing, and these changes are crucial for the existence of life. In this exhibition, we demonstrate how and why Earth changes. It's easy to see that Earth, with its liquid water, is different, but the planet's internal structure and magnetic field also set it apart from the other planets. Without these special physical conditions, life could not have evolved as it did.
Information for visitors
Find your way to the museum
Location and map
The Natural History Museum is located in Grünerløkka by Tøyen on the Eastern side of downtown Oslo (link to Google Maps). The museum includes all the premises within the fences enclosing our botanical garden. We have four entrances – in Sars' gate, Jens Bjelkes gate and two in Monrads gate. The official address of the museum is Sars' gate 1, 0562 Oslo, Norway.
Public transport
Metro (T-bane):
Alle metro lines stop at Tøyen station. The station is 6 minutes walk (450 m) from the southern entrance in Monrads gate (Google Maps).
Tram (trikk):
Line 17 to Lakkegata skole, 2 minutes walk (200 m) to the entrance in Sars' gate (Google Maps).
Line 11, 12 and 18 to Schous plass, 10 minutes walk (800 m) to the entrance in Sars´ gate (Google Maps).
Bus (buss):
Nr. 20 to Tøyenparken, 3 minutes walk (300 m) to southern entrance in Monrads gate (Google Maps), alternatively to Helgesens gate, 5 minutes walk (400 m) to the northern entrance in Monrads gate (Google Maps).
Nr. 31, 31E, 380, 390, 390E to Sars' gate, 3 minutes walk (200 m) to the southern entrance in Monrads gate (Google Maps).
Nr. 5N, 60, 93 toTøyen skole, 4 minutes walk (350 m) to the entrance in Helgesens gate (Google Maps).
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