Haus der Natur

We first visited the Haus der Natur (Natural History Museum) in Salzburg in March 2008 with Pennington students. It was a great museum, right downtown, with aquariums and live reptiles of all sorts and a few life-size dinosaurs (including one that moved and roared which frightened Nikolas but which he remembered quite positively), as well as many displays and exhibits all revolving around earth and space science. We imagined it would be a great resource during our time in Salzburg, a destination for miserable winter days, and I even picked up a leaflet about an annual membership which paid for itself in only four or five visits. Little did we know that the Haus der Natur was to close for renovations only five days after we arrived in August.

We were disappointed, of course, but the reopening date set in January didn't seem so very far away. Plus, it would still be winter and we'd be ready for a new diversion from winter come January. But January came and went, and the reopening date was pushed to the beginning of March. Ok, we thought. Perhaps the newly opened museum would be a good place to do a birthday something for Nikolas. But it was not meant to be. The beginning of March opening date was changed to an end of March opening date. And then when we got to the end of March, the opening was once again moved, this time to June 27th - only ten days before we leave Salzburg.

I marked it on the calendar long ago, though we didn't really think we would ever see the Haus der Natur during this stay. Low and behold, however, an article in the newspaper yesterday (not much advanced advertising!) announced that it was indeed going to be opening "on time". Nikolas saw the picture in the paper connected to the article, a photo from the all new Science Center (called Science Center auf Deutsch), and so it was there that he wanted to go the most.

While most people were heading to the aquariums and reptile area and space station, we made a beeline for the Science Center with only a few others who figured out that doing things out of order was a good idea. A solar activated ball run (using reflected light and mirrors to charge the solar panel) was one of the highlights of the energy room. There was a water center with all kinds of pumps and buckets and hoses and moving water. There was a room with all kinds of sound and music activities, including a noise closet where Nikolas proved that he can be as loud as an airplane engine. And, an entire floor was devoted to physics and engineering and fitness/motion with so many hands-on activities that I don't think we did every single one.

We did, of course, take a break from the beloved Science Center long enough to see the dinosaurs (which were still so scary that Nikolas had to walk out of the room and in through a different door to get to the aquarium instead of walking past the moving dinosaur), and fish, and space room, and reptiles. But, we had to head back to the Science Center once more before we were able to go home, just in case we don't get back there again before we leave Salzburg next week.

What a resource the Haus der Natur could have been!