Senckenberg
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1867
- HeadquartersFrankfurt, Germany
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
Senckenberg firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Senckenberg
- Legal name
- Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN)
- Website
- https://senckenberg.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1867
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Senckenberg industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Biodiversity Research Services
- NAICS
- Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Natural History Museums (THAJADAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Nature, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Conservation (BPADALAE), Wildlife, Biodiversity & Habitat Conservation Administration (BPAIAMAG), Nature & Biodiversity Reporting (TNFD, natural capital) (EUAHAJAM)
Keywords
Where Senckenberg is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Frankfurt
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices7 records
Markets served
Senckenberg business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Government Funding (Leibniz Association): As a member of the Leibniz Association, Senckenberg receives institutional funding from German federal and state governments for core research operations.
- Museum Admissions and Tickets: Revenue from visitor admissions to three natural history museums in Frankfurt, Dresden, and Görlitz. Special exhibitions and events generate additional ticket sales.
- Research Grants and Project Funding: Competitive research funding from DFG (German Research Foundation), European Research Council (ERC), EU Horizon programs, and other international funding bodies supporting specific research projects.
- Sponsorship and Corporate Partnerships: Corporate sponsors support Senckenberg through research sponsorships, event sponsorships, room sponsorships, exhibit sponsorships, and educational sponsorships. Companies benefit from association with the institution and visibility at museums.
- Education and Training Programs: Revenue from the Senckenberg School (technical assistant training), apprenticeships in administration, and master's programs offered in cooperation with TU Dresden/IHI Zittau.
- Museum Patronage and Exhibit Adoption: Patronage programs where individuals and companies adopt exhibits starting at €50 per year, supporting exhibit preservation and museum operations.
- Membership Fees: Senckenberg Society membership fees, with 15% discount offered to museum patrons.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Exhibit Patronage starting at €50/year |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Senckenberg School training is free of charge |
| Subscription | Annual | Apprenticeship positions in administration |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Senckenberg product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Senckenberg conducts integrative biodiversity and Earth system research across eight research institutes and five research stations in Germany, maintaining scientific collections of over 45 million specimens and operating three natural history museums in Frankfurt, Dresden, and Görlitz. It provides science-policy advisory services to intergovernmental bodies including IPCC and IPBES, runs educational programs including master's degrees in cooperation with TU Dresden and the Senckenberg School for technical assistants, and engages the public through exhibitions, citizen science platforms, and a media hub.
Product overview
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN) is a research institution comprising eight research institutes, five research stations, and three natural history museums (Frankfurt, Dresden, Görlitz). The institution operates a portfolio of research infrastructure including scientific collections (over 45 million specimens), educational programs (Senckenberg School, Master's programs in Biodiversity and Collection Management and Ecosystem Services), public engagement initiatives (Citizen Science, Synthesis & Solutions Labs, Museum Exhibit Adoption Program), media content (Weird Species Podcast), and policy support services (International Science-Policy Unit supporting IPBES and IPCC). The museums offer exhibitions, guided tours, and educational programs, while research spans biodiversity, climate, evolution, and Earth system dynamics.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Naturmuseum Frankfurt (Natural History Museum Frankfurt) One of Senckenberg's three natural history museums, featuring permanent and special exhibitions on dinosaurs, mammals, the brain, coral reefs, deep sea ecosystems, and Messel fossils, along with scientific guided tours, special exhibitions such as 'Ganz schön warm hier! Leben und Sterben in Messel' from December 2025, and public programs for visitors of all ages.
- Naturmuseum Dresden (Natural History Museum Dresden) One of Senckenberg's three natural history museums, offering exhibitions on natural history and biodiversity. Current featured exhibition includes 'iNuversumm – Raum und Zeit für Insekten' starting 1 November 2025, covering the world of insects from anatomy through development.
- Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz (Görlitz Museum of Natural History) One of Senckenberg's three natural history museums located in Görlitz, featuring natural history collections, exhibitions on German mineral resources ('Deutschlands Bodenschätze' from 3 October 2025), and a vivarium with show feedings.
- Senckenberg School A unique two-year training program in Germany that teaches technical skills for natural history museums and research institutes, covering biology, geology, paleontology, zoology, botany, and scientific collection management for technical assistants. Training is free of charge, with minor costs for field trips (~€300), textbooks and materials (~€200), and examination fee (€160); BAföG educational assistance available.
- Master's Program: Biodiversity and Collection Management An international, English-language master's program offered jointly with TU Dresden/IHI Zittau, combining biodiversity and ecosystem knowledge with collection management expertise for students pursuing careers in natural history and museum science.
- Master's Program: Ecosystem Services An interdisciplinary master's program dealing with biodiversity, ecosystem services, economics, and society, examining ecological economics and the social valuation of biodiversity, offered in cooperation with TU Dresden/IHI Zittau.
- Museum Exhibit Adoption Program (Museumspatenschaften) Patronage program allowing individuals or organizations to adopt and sponsor museum exhibits, starting at €50 per year. Benefits include a certificate, name plaque in the museum, annual Patron's Day invitation with free admission, and a 15% discount on Senckenberg Society membership.
- International Science-Policy Unit Unit operating at the interface between science and policy, hosting the IPBES Data and Knowledge Technical Support Unit and the IPCC Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments (TG-Data). Provides data infrastructure, knowledge management, and assessment process support for international environmental decision-making.
Quantifiable outcome
- Sixth-largest natural history collection globally with 45+ million objects
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Senckenberg
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Senckenberg technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Senckenberg partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- University of the Philippines-Marine Science InstituteminorCollaboration in the International Mollusk of the Year 2026 contest organized by Senckenberg, where UP-MSI leads a national campaign for the antingaw shipworm species from Bohol, Philippines to win the competition.
- IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)coreSenckenberg hosts the Data and Knowledge Technical Support Unit of IPBES, providing dedicated support to the platform's data infrastructure, knowledge management, and assessment processes for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)coreSenckenberg hosts the Chair of the IPCC Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments (TG-Data), contributing leadership to the panel's work on data transparency, traceability, and accessibility across assessment cycles.
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)coreActive collaboration with CBD on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, contributing scientific expertise to international policy processes.
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)minorCollaboration with UNCCD contributing to combating desertification and land degradation through scientific research and policy support.
- Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)minorPartnership supporting CMS work on conservation of migratory species through scientific assessment and research.
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)coreCollaborative relationship with IUCN contributing to global biodiversity conservation efforts through scientific expertise and research contributions.
- Leibniz AssociationcoreMember of the Leibniz Association (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft), a network of non-university research institutions. Receives institutional funding and participates in collaborative research across the association.
- Technical University of Dresden / IHI ZittaucoreSenckenberg offers international, English-language master's programs 'Biodiversity and Collection Management' and 'Ecosystem Services' in cooperation with TU Dresden/IHI Zittau. Also supports the Leibniz Graduate School 'Impact Vectors' and the Graduate Academy at TU Dresden.
- Goethe University FrankfurtcoreSenckenberg scientists offer more than half of the modules in the master's program 'Ecology and Evolution' at Goethe University Frankfurt. Doctoral candidates can participate in GRADE (Goethe Research Academy for Young Scientists).
- Carl von Ossietzky University OldenburgminorSenckenberg on the Sea (SAM) teaches 'Marine Biodiversity' to master's students at the University of Oldenburg.
- University of TübingencoreSenckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (SHEP) operates in partnership with the University of Tübingen, along with joint supervision of paleontological and paleoanthropological collections.
- University of PotsdamminorPhD students work towards their doctorate through the University of Potsdam while based at the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Müncheberg.
- International Seabed Authority (ISA)minorCollaboration with ISA on deep-sea research and environmental assessment of seabed activities.
- Frankfurt Conservation Center (FCC)minorCollaboration within the Frankfurt Conservation Center consortium with other institutes including ISOE, PRIF, and UNU-EHS for interdisciplinary environmental research.
- Friedrich-Schiller-Universität JenacoreSenckenberg Institut für Pflanzenvielfalt (SIP) with Herbarium Haussknecht operates in cooperation with the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.
- Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (NLD)minorCooperation with NLD for archaeological excavations at Schöningen research station, where the earliest known wooden weapons were discovered.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Senckenberg competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Natural History Museum, London: The UK's leading natural history museum with ~80 million specimens and significant research output. Direct peer to Senckenberg: both operate natural history museums plus major research institutes, host globally comparable collections, and publish high-impact biodiversity science.
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: US flagship natural history museum with 148+ million specimens and substantial federal backing. Directly comparable to Senckenberg in combining research institutes, public museums, and global science-policy engagement on biodiversity and earth science.
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: Germany's largest natural history museum and a Leibniz Association peer institution. Direct competitor for German federal science funding and the most comparable national peer, operating a research museum with 30+ million specimens and a similar science-policy role.
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN): France's premier natural history research and museum institution with 68+ million specimens. Highly comparable: combines research, museums, university training, and global biodiversity science-policy influence akin to Senckenberg.
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center: Dutch merged research-museum institution with ~42 million specimens and an active digitization program. Direct peer in operating a national natural history museum alongside biodiversity research, comparable in scale and digital strategy to Senckenberg.
- American Museum of Natural History (AMNH): Major US research museum with 34+ million specimens and an extensive research division. Comparable to Senckenberg in scale of collections, public-museum operations, and graduate training programs through the Richard Gilder Graduate School.
- Field Museum: Chicago-based natural history museum and research institution with ~40 million specimens. Direct peer in combining public exhibitions, collection-based research, and global biodiversity fieldwork similar to Senckenberg's model.
- California Academy of Sciences: San Francisco-based research institution combining aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum with ~46 million specimens. Comparable to Senckenberg as an integrated research-and-public-museum institution with significant biodiversity collections.
Regional players
- Swedish Museum of Natural History (Naturhistoriska riksmuseet): Sweden's national natural history museum and research institution with ~10 million specimens. Comparable model combining museum and research, but smaller scale and primarily serves the Nordic market rather than competing directly in German-speaking countries.
- Naturhistorisches Museum Wien: Austria's largest natural history museum with ~30 million specimens. Operates a similar research-museum model to Senckenberg but is a regional player serving the Austrian market rather than competing directly in Germany.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Senckenberg social profiles
Digital presenceSenckenberg financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Senckenberg leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Senckenberg funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Senckenberg M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Senckenberg
What does Senckenberg do?
Senckenberg conducts integrative biodiversity and Earth system research across eight research institutes and five research stations in Germany, maintaining scientific collections of over 45 million specimens and operating three natural history museums in Frankfurt, Dresden, and Görlitz. It provides science-policy advisory services to intergovernmental bodies including IPCC and IPBES, runs educational programs including master's degrees in cooperation with TU Dresden and the Senckenberg School for technical assistants, and engages the public through exhibitions, citizen science platforms, and a media hub.
Is Senckenberg a public or private company?
Senckenberg is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Senckenberg founded?
Senckenberg was founded in 1867. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Senckenberg based?
Senckenberg is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Senckenberg make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Government Funding (Leibniz Association) is the primary driver. The others are museum Admissions and Tickets, research Grants and Project Funding, sponsorship and Corporate Partnerships, education and Training Programs, museum Patronage and Exhibit Adoption and membership Fees.
Who are Senckenberg's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Naturalis Biodiversity Center, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Field Museum and California Academy of Sciences. Regional players are Swedish Museum of Natural History (Naturhistoriska riksmuseet) and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.
Does Senckenberg have an API?
No public API is recorded for Senckenberg.
What industry is Senckenberg in?
Senckenberg's product category is Biodiversity Research Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJADAC, Natural History Museums, with a secondary code of BPADALAE, Nature, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Conservation. Its NAICS code is 712 and its SIC code is 8731.