Herbarium Natural History Museum

The Herbarium Natural History Museum is located near Plac Bema in Wrocław, in a four-storey sandstone building designed by Paweł Spychała and completed in 2003. It is a facility of the University of Wrocław that gathers herbaria, that is, collections of dried plants used for botanical research.

The oldest herbarium in Poland

The collection includes the oldest herbarium in Poland, assembled in the 17th century by the Italian physician Sylvius Boccone. It is one of the most valuable items in the collection.

A collection from Asian expeditions

The Herbarium also holds about 50,000 sheets collected by Karl Lauterbach during his expeditions in Southeast Asia. This material documents the region's flora from more than a hundred years ago.

Function of the facility

The Herbarium operates as a scientific research unit of the University of Wrocław. No information was found about the exhibition being regularly open to individual visitors, so it should be treated more as a botanical research resource than a museum open to ordinary tourist traffic.

Nearby

A few hundred metres away is the Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław, and not far away are Tumski Bridge and the Archcathedral of St John the Baptist. Towards the centre, in the direction of the Market Square, you pass the Market Hall along the way.

Practical information

• Address: near Plac Bema, Old Town, Wrocław
• Getting there: a few hundred metres from the Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław and Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island)
• What to expect: a University of Wrocław research building with historic herbarium collections; it is worth confirming with the facility directly whether individual visits are possible before your visit