Croatian Natural History Museum
The Croatian Natural History Museum is a national centre and parent institution for the collection, preservation, protection, presentation, and scientific processing of natural history museum material.
About the Museum
Around 1.5 million specimens are preserved in the Museum’s zoological, botanical, geological, and mineralogical collections, supported by a long tradition of scientific research into natural heritage.
The Museum has a rich library and publishes the scientific and professional journal Natura Croatica. The richness of its collections, exhibitions, workshops, and scientific work makes it one of the key institutions for natural sciences and an important educational centre.
Management and Organizational Structure
Demetrova 1, Zagreb
Contact
- Tel: +385 1 4851700
- Fax: +385 1 4851644
- Web: www.hpm.hr
- E-mail: hpm@hpm.hr, info@hpm.hr
- Office hours for visitors: Monday – Friday, 8:00 – 15:00
Museum Management
Heads of Departments
General Services Office
Administrative Council
- Dr. Sc. Iva Mihoci – President
- Vedran Horvat, mag. – Member, Deputy President
- Snježana Prusec Kovačić – Member
- Dr. Sc. Jelena Puđak – Member
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Marija Bošnjak – Member
Departments and Services
Library
The Library of the Croatian Natural History Museum is a specialized library with more than 50,000 volumes of scientific and professional literature available to Museum staff, experts, and members of the public interested in natural sciences.
The Collection of Old and Rare Natural History Books of the Croatian Natural History Museum was established in 2011. It includes the oldest and most valuable monographic editions printed before 1850. The oldest books in the collection were printed in Italy in the 17th century.
Library Information
- Head: Darija Ćaleta, graduate engineer of biology and graduate librarian, library advisor
- Contact: +385 1 4627 301
- Library Catalogue
- Bibliographies of Professional Staff
History of the Croatian Natural History Museum and the Amadeo Palace
Historic Palace
The Croatian Natural History Museum is located in a historic noble palace on the walls of Zagreb’s Upper Town. Between 1797 and 1834, the building housed the first public theatre in Zagreb – the Amadeo Theatre, named after Count Anton Amade de Varkony.
Origins of the Collections
The beginnings of today’s natural history collections date back to the period of the Croatian National Revival, when the National Museum was founded in Opatička Street in 1846. The collections gradually expanded through the work of prominent natural scientists and the first museum experts, such as Spiridion Brusina, Gjuro Pilar, and Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger.
Museum Work Today
The Museum collects, preserves, researches, and presents Croatia’s natural heritage. Today, its collections contain more than 2 million specimens of minerals, rocks, fossils, plants, and animals.
Professional activities are carried out through specialized departments: geological and paleontological, zoological, mineralogical and petrographic, botanical, and conservation and preparation departments.
Library, Journal, and Program
The Museum Library was founded in 1868, and the journal Natura Croatica has been published since 1992. Since 2000, the summer program Scena Amadeo has been held in the Museum atrium.
Mission and Vision
The Museum has a rich library and publishes the scientific journal Natura Croatica, indexed in numerous international citation databases. The richness of its natural history material, thematic exhibitions and workshops, scientific and professional work, and highly educated staff makes it a key institution for natural sciences and an educational centre.
Status as a First-Level Parent Museum
Based on the Museums Act and the Ordinance on the Method and Criteria for Connecting Museums into the Museum System of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Natural History Museum is the parent institution for natural history museums in Croatia.
The Museum Director, Prof. Dr. Sc. Tatjana Vlahović, is a member of the Council of the Museum System, while Dr. Sc. Irena Grbac, museum advisor, is the coordinator of the first-level parent museum.
Parent Museum Activities Include
- Professional and advisory support to museums and other owners of museum material and collections
- Improvement of professional museum work and protection of museum material
- Coordination of museum work and development within the Museum System
- Professional supervision of museum activities
- Other tasks in accordance with the Museums Act
Contact Information
Croatian Natural History Museum
Demetrova 1, Zagreb
Tel: +385 1 4851700
E-mail: hpm@hpm.hr, info@hpm.hr
Web: www.hpm.hr