A Huge Donation Of Fossils Helped One Important Museum Rebound After Tragedy

Since a museum is only as good as its exhibits, the fact that a fire decimated about 85% of the specimens on display at the National Museum of Brazil took the historic institution out of commission.

But less than six years later, a massive donation from one man’s private collection has provided many of the resources necessary to reopen this influential museum by 2026.

“This really herculean task”

Millions of exhibits were damaged or destroyed in the 2018 fire, and museum director Alexander Kellner has been candid about what it’s going to take to recover. But he also noted that the generosity of folks like Burkhard Pohl have been a major boon in the ongoing effort.

The Swiss-German entrepreneur handed over about 1,100 fossils (all of which originated in Brazil) to the museum. News of the donation came this week, and Kellner said he hoped it would be the first of many such generous acts.

“The most important thing is to show the world, in Brazil and outside Brazil, that we are using private people and public institutions,” he explained. “We want others to follow this example, if possible, to help us with this really herculean task.”

Surveying what was lost

While the museum was known in part for its fossils, there was much more on display that has since been lost in the fire. For example, its extensive collection of insects and spiders was destroyed as were the Egyptian mummies that were being housed there.

Well over half of the museum’s fossils were also destroyed, including those from a particular long-necked dinosaur that scientists relied on to categorize a new species — the Maxakalisaurus.

But Pohl’s donation will breathe new life into the exhibit with fossilized dinosaurs, insects, plants, and a unique lizard originally categorized as a “four-legged snake.”

Chris Agee May 10th, 2024

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