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The Geology Department has a collection of some 20,000 specimens (about 13,000 minerals; 4,000 rocks; and 3,000 stratigraphic specimens, and some 650 mineral species from over 80 countries).

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The Mineral Collection goes back to the 1772 year and has some 1700 specimens of which some 550 mineral species are exhibited and laid up according to the latest edition of Strunz' "Mineralogische Tabellen" from 1970. The specimens illustrate first and foremost the variety of the mineral world as well as their remarkable nature through various aspects of crystallography.

The Petrographic Collection (Rocks) is divided into the following units:

• A systematic collection of magmatic and metamorphic rocks, principally with European examples.
• A reference collection illustrating the geology in areas with magmatic and metamorphic rocks; including
    1) collections from Denmark (especially Bornholm), the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, collected during the more than 200 years the museum has existed. Many of these collections are of considerable interest because of their history; and
    2) collections illustrating the conditions in other regions where the research has been of special importance to the understanding of the magmatic and metamorphic processes.

A documentation (original) collection with magmatic and metamorphic rocks, mainly from Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The material has formed the basis of scientific research papers published by Danish and foreign scientists. An important part of the collection is the material, deposited by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland according to an agreement between the institutions.
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Mineralogy, Lithology and Crystallography (with a database for crystal structures) - The mineralogical collections, originating from the first half of the XVI century, under the patronage of the Medici family, make Florence's Museum of Mineralogy the most important in Italy, and one the most widely known abroad, for its historical and scientific value and for the great number of specimens.
Specimens are about 45,000, the most important of which are the large geods of amethyst, the topaz crystal (of 151 Kg, the second largest in the world), and the crystal of aquamarine. There are also specimens of quartz, calcyte, tourmaline, gold and many precious stones and the metheorite collection.

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The Petrology Collection includes an extensive array of rock types from e.g. Eifel and Ardennes, a mineral collection (of importance for studies of the mineral contents of coal beds in southern Limburg), an extensive collection of flint types from all over Europe, a collection of Maas gravel (e.g. of the Brunssumerheide) and a collection of borehole cores of the Carboniferous and Devonian of southern Limburg. The collection also includes an array of corals, trilobites, brachiopods and sea lilies from the Eifel.

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Mineralogical-Geological Museum consist of various gemstone mostly of Norwegian origin.

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Earth Sciences - The origins of the Earth Science collections of the Natural History Museum of Bern can be traced back to at least 1721, when three (3) large quartz crystals from the Zinggenstock (Grimsel area, Bernese Oberland) were given to the Library of Bern.

• --The Systematic Mineral collection (of about 30,000 specimens) is the principal and best documented collection. Notable here are Swiss Alpine minerals, minerals from the Lengenbach quarry, and other Swiss locations (about 2000 Swiss localities represented). Other strongly represented regions and countries are the U.S.A. (766 localitites), Germany (626), Italy (411), France (254), Mexico (190), Austria (165), the Cech Republic and Slovakia (combined 171 localities) and Rwanda (36). There are about 1000 gemstones in the collections. This collection is currently being computer inventarized.

   --The Type Minerals collections contain type material (holotypes or cotypes) of the follwing species: Cervandonite-(Ce), Hennomartinite, Imhofite, Kornite, Nchwaningite, Nowackiite, Preiswerkite, Simonite, Sinnerite, Tuzlaite, Wallisite.

  --The Ore collection (about 5000 specimens) contains ore samples from Swiss mines and prospects. Well represented areas are the Jura mountains and the Bernese and Valais Alps. Includes a collection of ore samples from the Lengenbach quarry with typical features, incuding phenomena related with the metamorphic formation of a sulfide melt. A collection of ores from worldwide deposits contains mostly didactic samples from many major ore districts.

   --The Petrographic collections (about 10,000 specimens) are partly regionally organized, partly they represent spezialized research collections. The most important collections are:

  • - Hydrothermally altered rocks from Alpine fissures

    - Swiss rocks (area specific and name specific)

    - Swiss coals

    - Systematic collection of rocks (worldwide)

    - Regional rock collections from worldwide areas

    - Collection of glaciologic objects from Switzerland

    - "Geological phenomena"

    - Diamond-related rocks (Kimberlites, mantle xenoliths, high pressure metamorphics)

     

  --The Collections of Rocks and Minerals from tunnels in the Swiss Alps contain:

  • - Minerals from the Gotthard highway tunnel

    - Minerals from the Furka railway tunnel

    - Rocks from the Simplon railway tunnel

    - Rocks from the Lötschberg railway tunnel

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