Natural History Museum of Denmark

The conservation blog

Welcome to our website following the conservation unit as we prepare the exhibitions for the new museum building of the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD). We hope you will follow our team and our work as we prepare and conserve thousands of varied specimens, from a whale heart to tiny insects! We will also be developing new preservation techniques, expanding on existing methods, and exploring alternative ways of displaying specimens.

A Preliminary Study on Fig Preparation for the New Museum Exhibit

Figs (full and half) - initial appearance before dehydration, chemical impregnation, and drying Post by Nicole Feldman For the new galleries, we are excited to display genuine plant specimens rather than models…

A peek inside the conservators studio

By Bethany Palumbo In January 2024, the doors of the conservation studio swung wide open as we invited museum staff to join us on a fascinating journey through the varied work we are undertaking in preparation for the…

Diorama diaries

In the summer of 2023, the conservation team documented and deinstalled several dioramas, before conserving the specimens for display.

A long-delayed jaguar

While treating a jaguar taxidermy mount in the conservation lab, its story at the museum was unfolded.

When does the conservators job start in planning exhibitions?

Written by Zina Fihl At different museums there are different traditions for when the conservator’s involvement in planning exhibitions starts. In our planning process the first interaction where the conservator plays…

Extracting whale bones

In the summer of 2023, a Humpback Whale was observed in several locations around the inner Danish waters. On August 3rd it was found stranded south of Kolding (Southeast Jutland).

New mount for three arachnids

By Mikkel Ege Bartholdy Many of the specimens going into the new galleries are readily mounted and only in need of a condition assessment and a thorough cleaning, before going into storage in preparation for upcoming…

Deinstalling the Neanderthals exhibition

The Neanderthals exhibition, located at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, closed to visitors on February 19th. The following day, the museum team started the two-week process of deinstallation.

Treatment of a Great Hornbill

Treatment of a Great Hornbill Post and treatment by Nicole Feldman The great hornbill, Buceros bicornis, is a large bird found in India and Southeast Asia. It’s name stems from the casque, or boney extension on th…

Treatment of a spider monkey

The black-handed spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, is a species of spider monkeys found primarily in Central America.

Conservation team tour of the new museum site

In December, the conservation team were finally able to access and tour the new building site.

A conservator's nightmare

Small specimens can be packed thoroughly and moved carefully without hazards. The headache begins when the task is to move the complete skeleton of a bowhead whale...

Initial thoughts on conservation treatments of meteorites

What is a meteorite? And why do meteorites need conservation?

Deinstalling a dinosaur

On October 23rd 2022, the conservation team organised a ‘Dino Takedown’ event, giving the public a rare and very special opportunity to watch conservation in action.