The Museum of Natural History Chemnitz is one of the city's oldest museums, founded back in 1868, and its true highlight is the Petrified Forest - the largest plant fossil in Europe. If you're exploring Saxony and looking for an interesting stop between hiking trips, this place is well worth adding to your list.

The museum is housed in the DAStietz cultural centre right in the heart of Chemnitz, and its standout feature is the spacious, light-filled atrium where massive fossilized tree trunks from millions of years ago are displayed. Inside, visitors will find a collection of over 300,000 specimens, the historic Sterzeleanum cabinet, and an insectarium with live insects - a great alternative activity for days when mountain weather isn't cooperating.

How to get there

• Chemnitz city centre — easily reached on foot or by public transport, the museum is located inside the DAStietz building in the town centre

Practical information

• The Petrified Forest in the museum's atrium is the largest plant fossil in Europe
• The collection includes over 300,000 exhibits
• In 2009 the museum received the Saxon Museum Prize
• In 2017 a museum staff member discovered the ghost silverfish (Ctenolepisma calva) here, the first record of this insect in Europe

Fun fact: it was here in 2017 that a tropical insect nicknamed the 'ghost silverfish' was recorded in Europe for the first time - proof that real scientific discoveries still happen in city museums.