Biotopia Lab – a foretaste of the future Naturkundemuseum Bayern
Biotopia Lab: Information on exhibitions, workshops and activities for children
As an interim platform, the Biotopia Lab in the Botanical Garden is a dynamic exhibition space, an event platform and an experimental workshop all at the interface of science, art, design and culture.
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In cooperation with the cultural department and the museums
This article about Munich's museums is sponsored by the Cultural Department of the City of Munich and was conceived in cooperation with the State Agency for Non-State Museums in Bavaria. The content has been coordinated between the participating museums and muenchen.de, the official city portal.
Why the Biotopia Lab is worth a visit?
The Biotopia Lab opened its doors in spring 2021 and is offering a foretaste of the new Naturkundemuseum Bayern (Bavarian Natural History Museum).
What to see? With workshops, beds, an experimental kitchen, changing mystery objects, pop-up exhibitions and events, the Biotopia Lab makes curios about natural history topics. The dynamic space for experiments and exhibitions space acts as an interface of science, art, design and the general public. An architectural model and a media station provide information about the planning status of the future natural history museum.
What's special? As a location for events and workshops, the Biotopia Lab provides insights into the development process of the new museum and is used as a test room for formats and programs. The lab helps to understand currently relevent topics such as biodiversity, sustainability and climate change.
Biotopia Lab: All information at a glance
- Location: In the Botanical Institute within the Botanical Garden in Nymphenburg
- Museum Category: Nature, Environment, Science, Design and Art
- Open offers and children's program: Many changing and free workshops and activities
- Recommended duration of stay: 1 hour
- Opening hours: Fridays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The opening times may be changed during the school holidays. You can find up-to-date information here on the Biotopia website.
- How to get there: Tram 17 or bus 143 and 180 to the stop "Botanischer Garten"
- Parking: There are a few parking spaces opposite the main entrance
- Address: Menzinger Str. 65, 80638 Munich
- Contact details: Tel: 089 17861411, E-Mail: lab@biotopia.net, Website: https://biotopialab.snsb.de/
Permanent exhibition and special exhibitions at the Biotopia Lab
The exhibition area invites you to discover mystery objects from the Bavarian State Natural History Collections (SNSB), listen to silkworms eating and fly over the most beautiful landscapes in Bavaria with the VR bird flight simulator Birdly. If you want to find out more about the content of the new Bavarian Natural History Museum and the architecture of the new building, you've come to the right place. Biotopia also wants to network a wide variety of natural history educational institutions in Bavaria and presents them in the lab.
The special exhibitions change about twice a year and deal with the topics of the future museum such as behavior, activities and processes that connect us humans with other living beings. They should challenge a change of perspective on other organisms and address people in their everyday lives.
Workshops und activities for children
- Microsparing, pipetting, cultivating: The Biotopia Lab offers varying bookable school class programs and workshops on a wide range of topics from biology and environmental sciences.
- During the regular opening hours, lab pilots will guide you through the exhibition areas if you are interested and provide background information on the objects, programs and the planning status of the new Bavarian Natural History Museum.
- On weekends, public holidays and during the school holidays, there are free programs for children, young people and adults to join in: from dyeing wool with mushrooms to fascinating water experiments. Booking in advance is not necessary.
Events at the Biotopia Lab
In the Biotopia Lab, organic designers meet zoologists, philosophers meet nutrition experts, brain researchers meet virologists, and much more! As an event platform, the lab is an open space for interdisciplinary exchange.
From panel discussions to readings to science slams: the Biotopia Lab invites you to get to know life from unusual perspectives and to come into contact with science in an entertaining way.
The family-friendly Biotopia Festival takes place once a year with games, workshops, lectures and more. There are also regular online events.
Biotopia Lab@Home: Online offers
With an exciting activity program and the 360-degree tour, the Biotopia Lab can also be experienced at home. Test instructions, experiments and do-it-yourself concepts bring "hands-on science" into your own four walls.
The digital offers arouse interest in scientific connections and provides suggestions for young and old. The offers give a foretaste of the activities in the futuere museum: From the self-built bottle garden or your own mushroom cultivation to the isolation of DNA from vegetables or fruit.
Join in: Raised beds in the botanical garden
In cooperation with the institutions nearby, Biotopia wants to establish a nature and culture district in Nymphenburg and use the high level of biodiversity and unique location next to Nymphenburg Palace and Park and the Botanical Garden. The Biotopia Lab therefore works closely together with the Botanical Garden on workshops and events. For example, several raised beds within the botanical garden are part of the lab and being maintained by school gardening groups.
Café in the botanical garden
The Biotopia Lab is located directly across from the café in the botanical garden. Here you can enjoy coffee, cake and snacks for refreshment.
Tickets & entrance fees
- Visiting the Biotopia Lab itself is free. To access the lab, you have to go through the main entrance of the botanical garden (Menzinger Str. 65).
- Visitors only have to pay the entrance fee for the botanical garden (free entry in the winter months and free entry for children and young people under the age of 18).
- Separate rates apply for workshops and events.
Accessibility and offers for people with disabilities
Barrier-free access to the lab is possible via a ramp or a lift inside the institute. Guide and assistance dogs are allowed.
- Three disabled parking spaces are available in front of the main entrance of the Botanical Institute.
- Wheelchair-accessible toilets are located at the botanical garden ticket office.
Background: The new Naturkundemuseum Bayern (Bavarian Natural History Museum)
In the next years, a unique place of discovery will be created at Nymphenburg Palace: The museum Mensch und Natur (Man and Nature) is going to expand and open with a completely new concept under the new name Naturkundemuseum Bayern (Bavarian Natural History Museum). As a museum of life and environmental sciences for the 21st century, Biotopia's vision is a more sustainable and balanced world for all of its inhabitants. Curiosity and empathy for other life forms and independent action for a better future of the entire planet are the core values.
