Natural History Museum Rotterdam

The building in front of you, Villa Dijkzigt, has been home to the Natural History Museum Rotterdam since 1987, but the museum's story started long before that. It was founded in 1927, growing out of a personal collection assembled by Dr. A.B. van Deinse, who initially kept everything in a school attic. From those modest beginnings, the collection moved across Rotterdam several times, from the Dirk Smitsstraat to the Mathenesserlaan and the Kastanjesingel, before finally finding a permanent home here in Museumpark.

Each year around 40,000 visitors walk through these doors, drawn by exhibitions on biodiversity, fossils, urban wildlife, and much more.

The undisputed star of the museum is Ramon, an Asian elephant from Rotterdam's own Diergaarde Blijdorp. Ramon died in 1998, and his skeleton has been on display here since 2005. What makes Ramon especially remarkable is that he was the father of Bernhardine, the first elephant ever born in a Dutch zoo. She came into the world on June 16, 1984, and was named after Prince Bernhard, which means she was probably better-behaved at official receptions than most people named after royalty tend to be.