After the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2017, the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt is now set to mark its 200th anniversary. The museum is celebrating this milestone under the theme “Museum for Tomorrow.” Using 20 selected objects, the history and present of the museum and its collections are presented—as a decentralized exhibition within the museum that winds through many rooms and themes, as a poster campaign and exhibition flyer, with clips on social media, as a digital tour in the media guide, and on the project website museumfortomorrow.de. Special anniversary tours offer an in-depth look at the history and future of the institution.
Triceratops, hand axe, dodo, quagga, Masai lion—these are five of the 20 objects selected for the anniversary exhibition. Numerous Senckenberg staff members from the research and museum departments were involved in selecting 20 items from approximately 10,000 exhibition objects. “The selection was not an easy one for us,” explains Museum Director Dr. Brigitte Franzen: “Which objects represent the history and future of the collections? Which are curious, and which have been hidden away for a very long time, waiting to be discovered?” she continues. “It was important to us to reflect the diversity of our exhibits and the diversity of Senckenberg’s research,” adds Mulch. Fascinating stories of origin, as well as the historical and scientific significance of the individual objects, formed the basis for the selection. “With the ‘Museum for Tomorrow,’ we take a look into the past and explore what the future holds,” says Brigitte Franzen, summarizing the concept behind the exhibition and campaign.
