Cuvier Museum of Montbéliard
Birthplace of Georges Cuvier (Montbéliard, 1769 - Paris, 1832), the city of Montbéliard has an important collection of natural sciences, alongside archaeological, ethnological and fine arts collections. Within the museum of the castle of the Dukes of Wurtemberg, 300 million years of regional natural history are presented in the Cuvier Gallery.
The natural science collections are at the origin of the museum in 1850 and have been constantly enriched ever since. With more than 180,000 specimens, they show the diversity of the region's natural heritage in paleontology, botany, zoology and mycology.
The botanical collections, which include some wood and seed collections, mainly comprise herbaria. They are over 60 herbaria, gathering a total of over 100 000 parts. From the Berdot herbarium (middle of the 18th century) to today, through those of Pierre-Frédéric Bernard, Pierre-Frédéric Wetzel, Charles Contejean, Lucien Quélet and Samuel Marti, the museum of Montbéliard preserve more than 250 years of plant collection in the Montbéliard region and in the East of France.
The geological collections are mainly composed of paleontological collections. Estimated at 45,000 fossil specimens, they bear witness to nearly 300 million years of regional geological history. Among the main sites are Ronchamp (Carboniferous, -300 million years old), Noirefontaine (Jurassic, -180 million years old), Froidefontaine (Oligocene, -30 million years old), Romain-la-Roche (approx. -150,000 years old) and Gondenans-les-Moulins (approx. -25,000 years old).
The zoological collections are diverse and present entomology, malacology, ornithology, mammalogy, herpetology, ichthyology and osteology collections. Featuring mostly the fauna of the region, they bring together more than 60,000 specimens, including about 27,000 entomological specimens.
The mycological collections bear witness to the work of great mycologists from the Montbéliard region, such as Lucien Quélet and François Margaine.
Cuvier Gallery - bust of Georges CUVIER
Museums of Montbéliard
©Dominique DELFINO
Sheet from the BERDOT herbarium (1759-1763)
Collection of the Museums of Montbéliard
©Musées de Montbéliard
Montbéliard Flora Herbarium, by Charles Contejean (1840-1900).
©Musées de Montbéliard
Herbaria in the Oustalet room. Natural science preservation centre of the Montbéliard museums
© Musées de Montbéliard
The Romain la Roche site at the museums of Montbéliard.
Collection registered to the state and the commune of Romain la Roche.
©Musées de Montbéliard