Qype User (.
Yelp
It is the holidays and my sons owed me an educationally worthwhile family outing. Frankfurt being rather close, the weather suggested an indoor activity and my childhood memories of the place pushed us in the direction of the Senckenberg Natural History Museum.
Unfortunately, we were sorely disappointed. I remembered the museum much bigger, more beautiful and much more interesting. My son, drawing on his worldly experience, meant laconically: You were little. All things seem bigger when you are little. He is, of course, dead on.
Only I am left with the question where my childhood memories of a marvellous place come from. Certainly not from the Senckenberg. Like one of the German reviewers, I also noticed quite a lot of dust on several of the exhibits, which might be a metaphor on the whole place. In my mind, it needs a lot of dusting, metaphorically speaking as well as actually.
There were many visitors, mainly families with children of all ages, and maybe this enormous interest and the reputation of the Senckenberg Museum is the reason, why nobody seems to notice the need to liven up the place. There are hardly any interactive sections, which is surprising considering the possibilities. In the stuffed animal section (the location is quite curious) an alcove gives a hint of what could be achieved with a little imagination. This little room has the development of a human being in the uterus as its subject. While watching nine windows with texts and models, one constantly hears a heartbeat reminiscent of that might be heard by a foetus. However, even this is only the beginning of an idea, not a fully-fledged exciting display.
There are many taxidermy exhibits in class cases, and one is hard-pressed to find connecting threads or keep up the interest of accompanying children. Yes, the entrance hall with the dinosaur bones and reconstructions is impressive. We also liked the exhibits about prehistoric man. But that's more or less where it ends.
Overall, the museum seems rather old-fashioned; I almost want to use the word boring. To somebody already interested in the subject, it is no doubt rewarding, but we missed enthusiasm, something to inspire the visitors.
As mentioned before, there are no parking spaces in the near vicinity; public transport seems the logical approach. Most of the exhibits have English texts accompanying the German explanations, there are English guide booklets available as well.