Zoologische Staatssammlung München

The Zoologische Staatssammlung München houses almost 22 million zoological specimens, making it one of the world's largest natural history research collections.

Especially impressive are the extensive insect collections with about 12 million butterfly specimens representing over 130,000 different species – including many original type specimens. The collection also includes numerous animal groups such as beetles, flies, bugs, Hymenoptera, and butterflies as well as both invertebrate and vertebrate animals.

The mollusk collection contains around 400,000 specimens with approximately two million shells collected from all over the world over the past 200 years. Researchers focus intensively on biodiversity, species extinction caused by climate change, and animal protection – both in Bavaria and internationally.

• Participation in the German Barcode of Life project to genetically identify unknown insect species, known as "Dark Taxa."

• Discoveries of new animal populations in Bavaria, including an overlooked species of grass snake that migrated through the Alps after the last ice age.

• An energy-efficient building with over 5,100 square meters of storage space plus laboratories and workshops.