Things to do in Zealand, Zealand: The Best Natural History Museums

The Botanical Garden is a part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark. The Botanical Garden holds the largest collections of living plants in Denmark. If you are interested in botany and gardening or are just looking for an idyllic escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, the garden is a great place to relax and find inspiration. Year round it is home to a variety of exhibitions and activities, for example the Palm House, the Butterfly House and guided tours. The Botanical Garden are open Tuesday through Sunday from 8:30 AM to 4 PM in the winter, and every day from 8:30 AM to 6 PM from May through September. Visiting the Botanical Garden is free, except for the Palm House where there is an entrance fee.

Exploring, understanding and treating the body has always been the job of medicine. At Medical Museion we explore what medicine means for our lives – in the past, present and future. Medical Museion is a museum for everyone who has a body and is curious about how it is has been understood and treated, from Antiquity to Genetics. Exhibitions at Medical Museion draw on the museum’s vast collection of historical objects. However, you can also encounter cutting edge medical research and practice. The exhibitions take you on a journey through the world of medicine from historical understandings of our bodies to current challenges in public health such as obesity. The Body Collected (opened in 2015) lays out how medicine has collected the human body for research and teaching throughout history, running up to the present day. Guests are invited to join one of our guided tours (included in admission price) for a general introduction to the exhibitions, however, we also encourage you to explore the museum on your own. Do make sure to check out the museum’s calendar for special events, including Evening Consultations. Medical Museion is a university museum where scholars do research in science communication and medical humanities, often based in or contributing to the exhibitions. Many of the museum’s activities are experimental - both in format and content. Examples include the open collection room for Psychiatry, and the contemporary research focus of Room for Ageing. The Royal Surgical Academy Medical Museion is based in the buildings of the old Surgical Academy from 1787. Traces of the past are still evident in the exhibition rooms. At the centre of the museum is the anatomical theatre in which generations of medical student witnessed dissections of corpses and learned about anatomy. The anatomical theatre is still used for public lectures, doctoral defences and teaching. Medical Museion also hosts concerts, performance art and theatre in its historical surroundings, and arranges public events based on the exhibitions.

In 1175, the largest – Augustinian monastery was built near Hillerød to serve as a seminary, a shelter for the poor and as a hospital. After the Reformation, the monastery was partly demolished. The museum exhibits many of the excavated skeletons showing diseases, living conditions and causes of death in the middle ages. Walk on the ruins of the monastery and in the medical garden.