Naturhistorisches Museum Basel

What Naturhistorisches Museum Basel does

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel is a state-run natural history museum located in the historic Berri building (1849) on Basel, Switzerland's Münsterhügel, operated under the cantonal mandate of Basel-Stadt. Founded in 1821 with collections tracing back to the Amerbach cabinet of 1661, the institution cares for over 12 million objects spanning zoology, entomology, mineralogy, anthropology, osteology, and palaeontology. Its core offerings include permanent exhibitions (featuring dinosaurs, mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, minerals, and vertebrate specimens), rotating special exhibitions (including the exclusive Swiss hosting of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year), and a portfolio of educational and family programming such as children's birthday workshops, Night at the Museum sleepovers, the KITZ-Club for ages 11–16, and dedicated school programs that served 1,707 school groups in 2025.

The museum operates a diversified revenue model dominated by cantonal public contributions, which accounted for 86.76% (11,274,821 CHF) of FY2025 total income of 12,995,114 CHF. Earned revenue streams include general admissions (Adults CHF 7, Youth CHF 5, Children free; 873,305 CHF in 2025), museum shop sales (209,609 CHF), third-party sponsorship and grants (271,587 CHF), public contributions for provenance research (194,913 CHF), guided tours and events (99,987 CHF), and room rental (55,940 CHF). A Friends of the Museum membership program (CHF 40/year single, CHF 70/year family) plus lifetime tiers provides a recurring subscription layer, while corporate sponsorship and bequests/legacy giving represent growth channels. Technology infrastructure is conventional: collection digitization systems, Mailchimp for email, SuperSaaS for event booking, RaiseNow for donations, and Google Analytics.

Customer acquisition is event- and program-driven: 176,301 visitors in 2025, including 88,332 to permanent exhibitions and 86,855 to Wildlife Photographer of the Year editions across the 2024/2025 cycle. The museum is currently preparing for a major infrastructure expansion — a new joint building with the State Archive Basel-Stadt (designed by EM2N architects, opening planned 2029) — to consolidate currently dispersed collections and expand display capacity. With approximately 51 staff, 250 visiting scientist days annually, and 34 scientific publications in 2025, the institution functions simultaneously as a public education venue, a research-active natural history repository, and a regional cultural anchor.

Name

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel

Legal name

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel

Website

https://nmbs.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1821

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel is a state-run natural history museum in Basel, Switzerland, operating under a cantonal mandate to preserve and exhibit 12 million objects. It serves families, school groups, and researchers through permanent exhibitions, the exclusive Swiss Wildlife Photographer of the Year show, and dedicated educational programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Natural History Museum Services

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Natural History Museums (THAJADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Science & Technology Museums (THAJADAD), Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

Keywords

• Natural history museum
• Public exhibitions
• Educational programs
• Scientific collections
• Museum research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Basel

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Admissions and Tickets: General admission fees from visitors. Adults CHF 7, youth CHF 5, children free. Major revenue stream from 176,301 visitors annually.
2. Museum Shop Sales: Retail sales from museum gift shop generating merchandise revenue.
3. Events and Programs: Revenue from children's birthday parties (CHF 350), night at museum events, and other special programming.
4. Room Rental: Rental of museum spaces for events and functions.
5. Donations and Sponsorship: Third-party funding from sponsors, benefactors, and foundations, plus public contributions for provenance research.
6. Public Funding: 87% of income comes from canton of Basel-Stadt contributions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Naturhistorisches Museum Basel is a state-run natural history museum that operates permanent and special exhibitions of zoological, paleontological, mineralogical, and anthropological collections, and delivers educational programs, guided tours, children's workshops, and youth engagement activities. It also provides scientific research, specimen identification, and preparation/taxidermy services, while generating revenue through admissions, museum shop sales, room rentals, memberships, donations, and corporate sponsorships.

Product overview

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel is a state-run natural history museum offering a diverse portfolio of products and services centered on public education, scientific research, and collection preservation. The core offerings include permanent and rotating special exhibitions showcasing minerals, fossils, dinosaurs, and wildlife specimens. Visitor-facing services encompass children's birthday workshops (Dinosaur, Surprise, Manny and Diego themes), overnight Night at the Museum experiences for families, and the KITZ-Club youth engagement program for teenagers. Educational offerings include school workshops, museum cases for classroom use, and self-guided exploration materials. The museum generates revenue through membership (Friends of the Museum), corporate sponsorship, room rentals, and its museum shop. Scientific services include research programs, collection identification, and preparation studio services. A major infrastructure project (New Building) is underway with a planned 2029 opening.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Permanent Exhibitions Long-running museum exhibitions showcasing natural history collections including dinosaurs, mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, butterflies, minerals, and vertebrate specimens, available to general visitors at the Augustinergasse 2 building.
• Special Exhibitions Rotating temporary exhibitions featuring specialized natural history themes, including the Wildlife Photographer of the Year photography exhibition showcasing 100 winning photographs from over 60,000 global entries.
• Children's Birthday Workshops Themed birthday celebration packages for children aged 5-10, including Dinosaur, Surprise, and Manny and Diego workshop topics, providing hands-on activities, entry for accompanying adults, and a 2-hour themed workshop at a flat rate of CHF 350.
• Night at the Museum Overnight family experience for children aged 6-10 with adult companions (max 3 children per adult), exploring the museum after dark with flashlights and sleeping near exhibits such as the sabre-toothed tiger or whale skeleton. CHF 50 per child and CHF 70 per adult, including midnight snack and breakfast.
• KITZ-Club Youth club for children aged 11-16 offering monthly Saturday meetings, exclusive behind-the-scenes experiences with museum experts, and teen-focused programming.
• Friends of the Museum Membership Annual or lifetime membership program offering free admission to all exhibitions, exclusive member events, previews, excursions, lectures, and reduced-price regional museum passes via Museums-PASS-Musées. Single CHF 40/year or CHF 650 lifetime; partner/family CHF 70/year or CHF 900 lifetime.
• Corporate Sponsorship Partnership opportunities for companies to support exhibitions, educational projects, and museum initiatives through various sponsorship tiers managed by the Head of Events & Sponsoring.
• Bequests and Legacy Giving Planned giving program allowing donors to leave bequests or legacies to support the museum's long-term preservation, collection, and programs, overseen by Co-Director David Alder.
• School Programs Educational offerings for school groups including workshops, museum cases (traveling educational kits/museumskoffer), guided tours, and self-guided exploration materials aligned with curriculum standards.
• Museum Shop On-site retail store offering natural history-themed gifts, publications, and educational materials, generating 209,609 CHF in 2025.
• Room Rental Rental of museum spaces including the historic Aula for events, lectures, and special occasions, generating 55,940 CHF in 2025.
• SNAPSHOT Photography Competition Annual amateur photography competition with categories for plants/landscapes, animal portraits, and children's entries, including special biodiversity awards sponsored by IWB; the 7th edition in 2025 received 1,151 entries from Switzerland (84%) and other European countries.
• Identification Service Expert service for identifying natural history objects, fossils, minerals, and specimens brought in by the public, leveraging the museum's scientific staff expertise.
• Research Services Scientific research conducted by museum staff and visiting scientists using the museum's 12 million-object collections, resulting in 34 scientific publications by museum employees and 250 visiting scientist days in 2025.
• Preparation Studio Taxidermy and specimen preparation services for creating and maintaining museum exhibits and educational specimens, led by Head of Preparation Studio and Taxidermist Alwin Probst.

Quantifiable outcome

• 176,301 visitors in 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• IWB (Basel energy supplier)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025IWB, the Basel energy supplier, sponsors a special biodiversity focus prize in the museum's SNAPSHOT photography competition.
• Natural History Museum LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2024The Natural History Museum London organizes the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition annually. The Naturhistorisches Museum Basel holds exclusive rights to host the exhibition in Switzerland, featuring the 100 winning photographs from over 60,000 entries worldwide.
• Museums-PASS-MuséesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe Friends of the museum offer discounted annual passes to the Museums-PASS-Musées, an upper Rhine region museum pass.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris): France's flagship natural history institution with 68M specimens across zoology, paleontology, and mineralogy. Comparable in scale, public-research mandate, and exhibition-driven revenue model; serves as a reference peer for major European state natural history museums.
• Naturhistorisches Museum Bern: Swiss regional natural history peer with similar mandate, collection diversity, school programming, and cantonal funding profile. Operates in the same domestic market, providing a direct regional benchmark for visitation and revenue mix.
• Natural History Museum London: Operates one of the world's largest natural history collections (~80M specimens) and organizes the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Direct comparable to NMB in mission, collection scale, and exhibition programming; NMB is also an explicit licensing partner.
• Naturhistoriska riksmuseet (Stockholm): Swedish national natural history museum (~10M specimens) operating under a state research council mandate. Comparable in Nordic/European state-museum structure, scientific publication output, and exhibition programming depth.
• Musée d'histoire naturelle de Genève: Closest Swiss peer — Geneva's cantonal natural history museum with comparable collection focus (zoology, paleontology, mineralogy), state funding structure, and educational programming for French-speaking Swiss audiences.
• Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden): Dutch natural history museum and research institute with ~42M specimens and a recently completed new building (2019). Highly comparable in collection-based model, recent capital project, and integrated research/public engagement mandate.
• Senckenberg Nature Research Society / Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt: Major German natural history network combining research institutes and public museum exhibits (~40M specimens). Closely comparable in scientific-research integration, biodiversity focus, and state-funded operating model.
• Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: Germany's largest natural history museum (~30M objects) and a Leibniz Association research institution. Comparable in collection scale, integrated research mandate, dinosaur/paleontology signature exhibits, and European state-museum funding model.
• Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (Vienna): Austrian federal natural history museum with ~30M objects and a comparable mix of permanent collections, special exhibitions, and educational programs. Direct peer for central European state-funded natural history museums.

Broad incumbents

• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: The largest natural history museum globally (~148M specimens) and part of the Smithsonian complex. Comparable in core mission and collection breadth, but operates at a vastly greater scale and a US federal funding model — useful as a benchmark for what scaled natural history institutions can achieve in research output and attendance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/naturhistorischesmuseumbasel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/naturhistorisches-museum-basel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Naturhistorisches Museum Basel