When the German biologist Otto Diebelt opened an exhibition of natural history in the former monastery of St Katharina's church in 1951, no one imagined that this would lay the foundation for one of the most visited maritime museums in northern Germany.
In the days of the GDR, it was impossible to imagine a holiday on the German Baltic coast without an obligatory excursion to the Stralsund Museum.
Back in the days of the GDR, it was impossible to imagine a holiday on the German Baltic coast without an obligatory excursion to the Stralsund Museum. The museum gradually grew and soon the whole area of the monastery, including the church, was filled with aquariums, photographs, dioramas and ship models. In the seventies, the main attraction of the museum was a tropical aquarium with live corals inhabiting it.
After the reunification of Germany, the maritime museum continued to grow larger and larger, and soon the exhibits were no longer enough for the monastery grounds and construction spread to the nearby islands of Denholm (a former fishing village) and Naturum. Today, the Stralsund Maritime Museum has 39 aquariums, 1 water tunnel and an oceanarium, which features a life-size model of a whale.
Periodically there are shows for children and adults. Although the museum closes at 6pm, once a month visitors can walk along the sea tunnel, accompanied by Poseidon and mermaids, lighting themselves with torches to watch the sleeping fish and find out if they sleep at all in the dark.
The Stralsund Oceanarium was voted the best natural history museum of 2010 in Europe and was honoured with a bronze sculpture "The Egg", symbolising popular acclaim and the love of visitors. The museum is open daily from 10 am and a whole day is barely enough time to take in all its attractions.
