Invitation to the Press Tour

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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,

We are pleased to invite you to the Press Tour on
Wednesday, 12 November 2025 at 11 am in the
Pei Building (first floor) of the Deutsches Historisches Museum.

Speakers:
Raphael Gross, President of the Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum
Julia Voss, Curator of the exhibition
Dorlis Blume, Project Manager of the exhibition

It is possible to view the exhibition starting at 10 am in the Pei Building (first floor). The curator’s tour takes place in German.

What do we mean when we talk about “Nature”? This question has sparked a wide range of responses throughout German history. Religious and political movements as well as governments have laid claim to the term. In the new exhibition the Deutsches Historisches Museum shows how “Nature” was understood and defined in different ways and at different times as it was caught up in the complex interplay of faith, biology, and power and put to use for political aims. Here the scintillating, multi-layered concept of “Nature” is explored in its historical breadth and depth.

From 14 November 2025 to 7 June 2026, the exhibition “Nature and German History. Faith – Biology – Power” looks back on examples spanning 800 years of German history. Starting with Hildegard of Bingen’s concept of divine “greening power” in the 12^th century, curator Julia Voss traces the transformations up to the understanding of nature in divided Germany, to environmental policy, and to the early anti-nuclear movement in the 1970s. Moreover, the co-option of what was considered “natural” was one of the ideological tenets of the Nazi dictatorship, which attempted to bring both “external” and “internal” nature under their power of definition and rule by decreeing innumerable laws. The “Nuremberg Laws” and the “Reich Nature Conservation Act” referenced each other and were both enacted in 1935.

Starting with a prologue, visitors follow a path through the historical stages that marked the different manifestations of this concept. In five chronologically arranged rooms, different stations offer glimpses into events and developments when the concept of nature was markedly changed or reshaped. Each station is introduced by an animal or a plant. The exhibition focuses on different landscapes: the cultivated fields of the Middle Ages, the decimation caused by the Thirty Years’ War, the mythification of the “German Forest” in the 19^th century, and the Lausitz moonscapes left over from opencast mining in the GDR in the 20^th century. 

Although the discussions in times of climate change tend to focus on environmental protection, the exhibition wants to go beyond the current semantic meaning of “Nature” and to concentrate on the constant changes in nature concepts in the course of German history. In this way, the current debates should be enriched through the rear-view mirror of historical perspective.

Please note the following guidelines and the registration form:

• The press event on 12 November 2025 takes place only within the time slot of 10 am (beginning of accreditation and exhibition preview) to 
  2 pm.
• We request you to register for the press tour. Non-accredited persons can only be permitted to attend if capacity is available.
• Individual interviews are possible after prior application. Please address requests for interviews and shootings in advance to presse@dhm.de.
  
   

Please send personal accreditation requests by 5 pm on 11 November 2025 to: https://www.dhm.de/en/accreditation-for-the-press-tour-nature-and-german-history-faith-biology-power/

Photos and extensive press information about the exhibition: DHM-Press Room