Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Arktis, hvor man blandt andet kan se hvalrossen og isbjørnen.
From the Arctic exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark

Natural History Museum Denmark Unveils Eight New Exhibitions

On March 6 2027 Natural History Museum Denmark opens its doors as Denmark’s new national museum of natural history. With eight permanent exhibitions spread across 6,500 square metres, the museum allows visitors to experience, for the first time, more than 5,000 natural history objects under one roof – from an enormous Danish blue whale skeleton to a prehistoric giant ground sloth and meteorites from outer space. The A.P. Moller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Moller Foundation supports the exhibitions with DKK 220 million.
Press release
Ny museumsbygningUdstilling

Today, Natural History Museum Denmark unveils the content of the new museum. Each of the eight exhibitions has its own theme: Universe, Earth, Life, Denmark, Arctic, Biodiversity, Humans, and Ocean Hall. Together, they tell the story of nature and life on Earth over the past 4.5 billion years. 

From Flores Man To The Danish Maribo Meteorite

The permanent exhibitions build on one of the world’s oldest and most significant natural history collections, comprising more than 14 million objects collected over more than 400 years: 

– Visitors will experience a journey of discovery through the exhibitions, encountering everything from fossils from Denmark’s distant past and newly discovered species from faraway rainforests to rocks from Isua in Greenland bearing some of the earliest signs of life. Along the way, they will see dinosaurs, traces of earlier human species such as the Flores Man, the dodo skull from Mauritius, original copper plates from Flora Danica and a piece of the Moon that you can actually touch. And then there is the Maribo meteorite – a rare cosmic time capsule that fell onto Danish soil and today gives researchers new insight into the early formation of the solar system, says Anders Drud Jordan, Deputy Museum Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming at Natural History Museum Denmark. 

Nature’s Crown Jewels Take Centre Stage

The new museum doubles the exhibition space. This makes it possible to display far more objects and to expand the museum's engaging outreach, through guided tours, workshops and activities in the exhibitions. 

The ambition is for the architecture, design, colours, light and sound to work together with the 150 specially designed showcases and the largest objects, such as the blue whale skeleton.  

– Never before have we had the opportunity to present our collections in such magnificent architectural surroundings. And for the first time, we can tell the great, continuous story of life on Earth through geology, botany, and zoology under one roof. We share a planet with millions of life forms, all connected to us through the tree of life. Nature holds countless stories that both defies the imagination and challenge our understanding of the world. At the same time, some of the museum’s most remarkable objects finally get the stage they deserve. If visitors leave not only with new knowledge but also with a new way of seeing nature – filled with wonder, hope and a deeper understanding of the connections that bind us to all living things – then we have succeeded, says Anders Drud Jordan. 

Ticket sales for the new Natural History Museum Denmark will open later in November 2026.

Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Danmark.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Danmark.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Jorden, hvor man kan se Mineralvæggen.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Jorden.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Universet.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Arktis, hvor man blandt andet kan se hvalrossen og isbjørnen.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Arktis.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Biodiversitet.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Biodiversitet.
Stemningsbillede fra udstillingen Livet.
Per Kirkeby bronzerelieffer på museet.
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From the Denmark exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Denmark exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Earth exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Earth exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Universe exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Arctic exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Arctic exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Biodiversity exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Biodiversity exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
From the Life exhibition. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
Bronze reliefs by Per Kirkeby, donated by the A.P. Moller Foundation. Photo: Torben Eskerod, Natural History Museum Denmark
The Exhibitions

The A.P. Moller Foundation funds the eight new permanent exhibitions with a donation of DKK 220 million to the project. The total permanent exhibition area is 6,500 square metrers. 

The concept design for the exhibitions is the result of collaboration between the museum and partners including the design agency Tinker Imagineers.

Construction

The 32,000 m² museum building is supported by:  
 

Villum Foundation: DKK 306 millionNovo Nordisk Foundation: DKK 122 million 
Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond: DKK 115 millionDet Obelske Familiefond: DKK 100 million

The museum building is designed by Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects and architect Claus Pryds, who in 2012 won the international design competition together with EKJ Rådgivende Ingeniører and Professor and landscape architect Steen Høyer. The other consultants include Julie Kierkegaard Landskabsarkitekter, Gade & Mortensen Akustik and Ebbe Stub Wittrup. 

Natural History Museum Denmark

The collections form the core of the museum and comprise around 14 million objects gathered over 400 years – from animals, plants and fossils to minerals and meteorites. In addition, the museum also maintains living collections of approximately 8,000 plant species. 

The museum has its home in the Botanical Garden near Nørreport Station in the heart of Copenhagen. The new museum brings all its activities together in one place and, along with the garden, creates a shared setting for collections, research and public engagement – and a unified experience of natural history. 

For more information, contact:

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