The zoological Museum of Strasbourg re-opened its doors to the public on Friday 19 September 2025 after six years of renovation. It has been transformed in order to present a completely renewed display based on its extensive collection dated back from the 18th century and marked by the French and German history of the institution.

The renovation was part of a national programme lead by the French State, named Operation Campus.  Teams from City of Strasbourg Museums and the University of Strasbourg’s Jardin des Sciences worked together on the renovation of the Zoological Museum, with operational management entrusted to the University of Strasbourg’s Estate Management Service. The Zoological Museum’s uniqueness lies in its historically significant role within a dual municipal and university framework. Only one other Museum in France, located in Nancy, is managed both by a city and a university.

Located at the heart of the city on the University campus, the Zoological Museum has become a cultural and educative space open to major societal issues, particularly environmental ones, and explores the evolving place of humans in the animal world through its heritage collection.

It is structured around a number of questions: How do living organisms and ecosystems function? What are the close links between biodiversity and human societies? How are scientific communities helping us to understand the interactions and relationships between humans and their environments, both locally and globally? How do scientific knowledge and associated technologies help transform these environments?

Within the expanded and renovated space, the museum offers its audience a journey to the heart of the diversity of living things; the tour takes visitors on a journey to discover the history of the natural sciences and the functioning of ecosystems, aided by a reinforced presence of oral guides and multimedia and interactive devices. This exhibit is complemented by temporary exhibitions and a rich cultural programme, as well as access to educational workshops and a specialised bookshop.

Through such renovation, the institution is tackling the challenges of a 21st-century museum. Its scientific and cultural project focuses on a broader approach: an openness to social issues by emphasising our relationship with our environment and the inclusion of oral spaces conducive to discussion throughout the exhibit; an openness to the public by making the building more accessible and improving visitor conditions; an openness to the city and the university campus, and an openness to the world of research in order to anchor the content in current scientific knowledge and provide a forum for interaction with the scientific community.

As part of the support for the museum’s renovation, a new agreement between the City and the University was signed, aimed at strengthening ties between the museum management, the museum team, and the Jardin des Sciences, and devising a new method of governance. The objective is not only to mobilise the wealth of resources and expertise of all the stakeholders involved for the benefit of the renovated museum, but also to strengthen ties with research in various fields of knowledge, including the humanities and social sciences. These ties are central to the aims of the museum’s new scientific and cultural project.

Text: Sébastien Soubiran, University of Strasbourg, and Samuel Cordier, Zoological Museum of Strasbourg

Photo: Catherine Schröder, University of Strasbourg, and Mathieu Bertola, Zoological Museum of Strasbourg