Naturalis in Leiden has been in existence for 200 years. The institute will therefore be celebrating this anniversary for two hundred days from Tuesday. King Willem-Alexander opens the festivities and is the first to visit the anniversary exhibition.
Naturalis in Leiden has been in existence for 200 years. The institute will therefore be celebrating this anniversary for two hundred days from Tuesday. King Willem-Alexander opens the festivities and is the first to visit the anniversary exhibition.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of King William I founding the National Museum of Natural History. What once started as his personal collection has grown in two centuries to a collection of 42 million objects; one of the largest and most prominent collections in the world.
“Research into biodiversity is more important than ever”, says Edwin van Huis, General Director of Naturalis. “For the future of our children and our planet.”
During the Gala of Biodiversity, organized in collaboration with New Scientist, speakers such as astronaut André Kuipers, Koos Biesmeijer (director of science at Naturalis) and Kirsten Schuijt (director of WWF-NL) will shed their light on the state of the art from their own research area. biodiversity.
The king then officially opens the anniversary celebration. This opening can be followed on Tuesday 29 September from 4 p.m. via naturalis.nl/livestream.
The exhibition, with 25 masterpieces from the Naturalis collection, can be visited from Wednesday 30 September.