The Museum of Man and Nature in Munich-Nymphenburg was opened in 1990. Its predecessor was originally located in the Neuhauser Strasse (in the heart of Munich’s city-centre pedestrian zone) in the so-called “Wilhelminum” building. The “Collection of Natural Curiosities” first opened its doors to the public in 1809.  

In 1944, the Wilhelminum was almost completely destroyed during an allied bombing raid and parts of its collections were lost. After World War II, the building itself was rebuilt, but found another use. The various scientific natural history collections were housed at different locations, and for the next decades no public natural history museum existed in Munich.

During the 1960s, preliminary discussions took place regarding a new location for a public natural history museum. One scheme investigated the possibility of building such a museum on the previous site of the “Türkenkaserne”, alongside the scientific collections and in connection with the biological research and educational faculties of Munich University. These plans, however, were abandoned.

Subsequently, a museum of a completely different type was established at this location - the “Pinakothek der Moderne”, housing a collection of contemporary art.

In 1967 the administration of the Bavarian Natural History Collections was reorganized. W. Engelhardt was appointed as the new managing director with the express task of establishing a modern natural history museum in Munich.

By 1970, a planning team had been set up, technical workshops and graphic studios equipped and the project commenced. The first exhibition, “Nerves and Brain”, was produced and displayed in the famous “Deutsches Museum”. It was a pilot project designed to test the educational approach and overall scheme developed by the planning team. The exhibition was so successful that it remained as a guest exhibit in the “Deutsches Museum” for 6 years, instead of 10 weeks as originally planned.

In 1983, a successful architectural planning competition for a new museum complex on the southern Oberwiesenfeld (near the 1972 Olympic grounds) was held. The project had to be abandoned, however, due to financial constraints. A new possibility for the establishment of a natural history museum finally arose when the north wing of Nymphenburg Palace became available.

In 1984, under the direction of H.-A. Treff and his deputy F. Naumann, the planning team started to develop and execute the design of the different exhibition sections.

On June 28, 1990, the Museum of Man and Nature was officially opened to the public by Max Streibl, the Bavarian Prime Minister at the time.

The accommodation of the Museum of Man and Nature in the north wing of Nymphenburg Palace was originally seen as no more than a temporary solution. The space available is too confined (approx. 2,500 square metres) to permit a museum to do justice to the valuable and extensive inventory, much of which is still deposited in the storage rooms of the Bavarian Natural History Collections. Moreover, more space is required if the museum is to fulfil its official educational mission “...to instruct and inform humans about themselves, their environment and about the threats to nature posed by technical civilization”.

Current plans would allow the Museum of Man and Nature to almost double its exhibition capacity by taking over adjoining space in neighbouring buildings. These are occupied at present by the Institutes for Genetics and Microbiology of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. This scheme can be realized as soon as the institutes are able to relocate to their new facilities on the new campus in Munich-Martinsried. .