State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Stuttgart

The State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (SMNS), located in Stuttgart, is a premier natural history museum in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Alongside the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, it serves as a crucial repository for the region's natural history collections, attracting around 110,000 visitors annually.

SMNS showcases its extensive collections across two buildings within Rosenstein Park: the Löwentor Museum and the Museum Rosenstein, housed in the Rosenstein Palace. The Löwentor Museum is dedicated to paleontology and geology, while the Museum Rosenstein focuses on biology and general natural history.

The history of the museum's collection dates back to before World War II when it was housed at Neckarstraße in downtown Stuttgart. Much of the original exhibition was destroyed by fire following Allied bombing during the war. However, a significant portion of the exhibits were safely stored elsewhere and survived, including some that were later recovered from the rubble. Notably, a spectacular 3D-mounted plesiosaur (Meyerasaurus) recovered from the destroyed building is now a highlight at the Löwentor Museum.

Since 1954, the biological specimens have been displayed at the Rosenstein Palace. The Löwentor Museum, constructed between 1981 and 1985, features a principal exhibition area spanning three floors and over 3500 square meters, with a ceiling height of up to 11 meters. This museum predominantly displays fossils from localities within Baden-Württemberg and other parts of Germany. The state's geological history is rich with fossils, including well-known sites that have yielded significant finds from various geological periods.

The exhibitions at the Löwentor Museum include a comprehensive collection of terrestrial and marine fossils from the Triassic and Jurassic periods, such as the early prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus, ichthyosaurs, pliosaurs, and sharks. Additionally, the museum features Cenozoic-era vertebrates and invertebrates from German localities, including a Pleistocene elephant and a mammoth mummy replica. Another notable exhibit is the skull of Homo Steinheimensis, a prehistoric human. The museum also houses an impressive collection of plant and animal fossils preserved in amber.