Johannes Vogel: The Parliament of Nature

How can stuffed passenger pigeons, fern collections, or even the unicorn as a symbol help us rethink the major crises of our time—species extinction, climate change, and the erosion of democracy? What role do natural history collections play as the "memory of the Earth" and as a foundation for scientific insight and political decision-making? 

Johannes Vogel discusses the profound disconnection between humans and nature and outlines a vision for a knowledge-based democratic society in which natural history museums serve as spaces for political debate and societal transformation. 

Johannes Vogel studied biology and law and earned his doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1995. After working at the Natural History Museum in London, he has served since 2012 as General Director of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and as Professor of Biodiversity and Science Dialogue at Humboldt University in Berlin. His most recent publication, The Parliament of Nature, co-authored with Sarah Darwin and Boris Herrmann, explores the relationship between science and democracy. 

Johannes Vogel: The Parliament of Nature
What Ferns, Finches, and Unicorns Have to Tell Us
Introduction by Michael Philipp, Chief Curator Museum Barberini
Mon, 8 December 2025, 7 p.m.
Museum Barberini, Auditorium 
Ticket: €20 (includes admission to the exhibition on that day from 5:30 p.m.)