New hall from May

Natural History Museum travels back to the Ice Age

In the spectacular new hall, children - and adults - will learn to look at the Ice Age through children's eyes.

(Bild: Schuberth und Schuberth)

In spring, the Natural History Museum will open a spectacular new Ice Age room. It was developed together with children. And they really challenged the scientists with their unexpected questions about life thousands of years ago.

Fortunately, there are now many child-friendly areas in museums. The air is thinner when it comes to areas that were developed together with children. But you won't find any that are about children, at least until May 20, when the new Ice Age Hall opens at the Natural History Museum (NHM), which is designed to take visitors into the world of children thousands of years ago.

Children's questions as an endurance test for NHM scientists
The stations were developed with children. They really put the scientific curator Caroline Posch to the test, as she told the "Krone" newspaper: "For example, they wanted to know how people washed and went to the toilet back then, whether Ice Age people had flowers or how to make tools without tools." In some cases, it took a lot of research to find all this out.

NHM Director Katrin Vohland (right) and early historian Caroline Posch in conversation with the "Krone" newspaper

(Bild: NHM / Wilhelm Bauer-Thell)

The new hall is designed to invite children and their adult companions to linger.

(Bild: Schuberth und Schuberth)

"A bit of spookiness" included
The hall will provide answers to all these questions from spring. There will also be a fireplace, a cave - "a bit scary" according to Pösch - and a dwelling in which you can use a simulator to test whether you could have made a fire back then. Director Katrin Vohland also wants to use videos, audio stations and other interactive elements to achieve what she aims to do throughout the museum: "to make the wealth of the collection - scientifically correct - emotionally accessible".

Before the new hall opens, the amphibian and reptile rooms will be reopened in March. "The crocodiles are currently being cleaned," laughs Vohland. However, the NHM, together with the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Belvedere, is a little worried about the federal government's financial commitments for barrier-free conversions. The museums hope that the federal government will keep its word in view of the austerity measures.