Croatian Natural History Museum – Palace Pejačević/Amadéo

The Croatian Natural History Museum, one of the largest museums in Croatia, is housed in a historic noble palace Pejačević/Amadéo on the ramparts of Zagreb’s Upper Town. The palace was built in 1796 by Count Antun Pejačević, and originally served as a residence with a ballroom. The Amadeo Palace was earlier home to Amadeo’s theatre, the first theatre in Zagreb. Formed in 1797 by Antal Amade de Varkony, the prefect of Zagreb County, it operated until 1834. In 2000, Amadeo’s theatre was revived as a yearly summer series of theatrical plays entitled Scena Amadeo (“Amadeo Scene”) held in the museum atrium.

The permanent display of the Croatian Natural History Museum consists of mineralogical, petrographical, and zoological collections, as well as two permanent exhibits in the atrium: the Rock Map of Croatia and the Geological Pole. It is home to Krapina diluvian man collection. In 2021, the museum was closed pending the completion of reconstruction following the 2020 Zagreb earthquake and then reopened in 2024

It owns one of the biggest museum collections in Croatia, with over 2 million artifacts, including over 1.1 million animal specimens. It was founded in 1846 as the “National Museum”. The National Museum was later split up into five museums, three of which were merged in 1986 as departments of the newly named Croatian Natural History Museum. The museum contains a large scientific library open to the public and publishes the first Croatian natural history scientific journal, Natura Croatica.

The beginnings of today’s rich collections of the Museum originate from the First Academy in Zagreb, as well as from the rich period of the Croatian National Revival, when in 1846, the National Museum was established in the Opatička Street. Initial modest collections were enriched over time, and particular momentum in collecting natural objects (minerals, ores, fossils, plants, and animals) continued with the work of prominent Croatian and world-renowned and recognized natural historians. Special contributions were made by professors at the University of Zagreb and first museum experts Spiridion Brusina, Gjuro Pilar and Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger.