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200 Years Gregor Mendel

Varied birthday program from April to September
Action period: April 20 to September 18, 2022

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Gregor Mendel's birthday, the Munich-Nymphenburg Botanical Garden, together with partners from science and education, is organizing the thematic focus "It's the mixture that counts - hybrids in nature and culture".

The Botanic Garden Munich-Nymphenburg in cooperation with BIOTOPIA - Naturkundemuseum Bayern, the Museum Mensch und Natur and the Museum Educational Center will offer all visitors a colorful and diverse program around Gregor Mendel, who laid the foundation for a new branch of biology with his crossing experiments on peas: genetics.

In addition to numerous offerings from the Botanic Garden and other partners, there will also be something to do in the BIOTOPIA Lab and the Museum Mensch und Natur.

To the BIOTOPIA program page

Mendel's tireless hybridization experiments

Gregor Mendel's intellectual achievement consisted, on the one hand, in asking himself whether the process of heredity follows certain laws. On the other hand, Mendel did not rely on mere observations, but approached this question experimentally. At the time, he received little attention for his statistical evaluations. 200 years later, this has changed: Gregor Mendel is now considered the "father of genetics," and the "Mendelian rules" he formulated form a basis for understanding hereditary traits. On the occasion of his 200th birthday, the Botanic Garden and its cooperation partners dedicate a diverse program to him and inform about his research and the topic of hybridization.

Wide range of programs from April 20, 2022

Information panels in the open air of the Botanical Garden deal with the life of the Augustinian monk and introduce the topic of hybridization in the plant world. In specially designed beds, hybrids and selections are shown next to their wild relatives. The program in the garden is accompanied by guided tours, a series of scientific lectures in the lecture hall of the Botanical Institute, and events and hands-on activities in the BIOTOPIA Lab and Museum Mensch und Natur.

Events for children and young people as well as all the curious

The Museum Education Center (MPZ) is organizing family events entitled "Flower experiments - on the trail of Gregor Mendel" for children between the ages of seven and twelve. After a tour of the exhibition, Mendel's crossing experiments can be vividly reproduced in a workshop. A leporello on Mendel's contemporaries provides information on the groundbreaking technical inventions made in his century. In the BIOTOPIA Lab in the Botanical Garden, visitors can follow in Mendel's footsteps and playfully explore what "dominant" and "recessive" mean - and observe, for example, how fast-growing plants create several generations in a very short time. The Museum Mensch und Natur offers guided tours for groups and school classes on the topic of genetics, highlighting aspects of the history of science.

Event weekend on July 23 and 24

Mendel's birthday will be celebrated in the Botanical Garden on July 23 and 24. The colorful and informative program on the action weekend will offer entertainment for all ages.

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