German Oceanographic Museum - museum of oceanography and fishery

Publicly funded aquarium
Although many people only associate the German Oceanographic Museum with the museum itself, it now includes four sites: the Oceanographic Museum itself, the Natureum at Darsser Ort lighthouse, the Dänholm Nautineum and the MeeresWelten (ocean worlds) interactive exhibition. The Oceanographic Museum remains the most popular site and since the end of January has had an amazing new visitor attraction - a 350,000 litre aquarium for turtles. It is the only turtle enclosure of its size in Germany and provides a home for three species threatened with extinction. Four female turtles can be observed living as if in the wild in the 13 by 6 metre aquarium, one loggerhead and one hawksbill and two green turtles. Visitors can watch these huge creatures through a 21cm thick glass screen, eight metres by three metres in size.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Dänholm Nautineum. Among the exhibits in this museum of fishery, marine research and hydrography is the 15m long "Heligoland" underwater laboratory which visitors are allowed to enter. The striking 14m high boat hall houses the historical Zeesboot STR 9 fishing boat as well as smaller boats used by fishermen off the coast of Western Pomerania. The Nautineum also gives visitors an insight into German marine research techniques, whaling and the pre-1945 deep-sea fishing industry. Outside in the grounds there are navigational buoys, small fishing boats, a reconstruction of a fishing quay and Germany's biggest ice breaker. Since 2003 visitors have also been able to see BAH1, the first German undersea research observatory, and the GEO submersible.

If you've ever wanted to see a sperm whale skeleton, now's your chance: visit the multimedia MeeresWelten exhibition to get an idea of the awesome size of this 15m long colossus. With a variety of interactive exhibits and video animations, MeeresWelten explores man's fascination with the ocean.

Further information from:
German Oceanographic Museum
Katharinenberg 14-20
18439 Stralsund, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 3831 265 010
Fax: +49 (0) 3831 265 060
E-mail: info@meeresmuseum.de