The Owl of the Long Night of Museums

Long Night of the Museums 2025

Making the invisible visible
The Owl of the Long Night of Museums
Graphic: Jena Kultur

For the Long Night of Museums 2025, Villa Medusa exhibited small, barely visible treasures of the sea that Ernst Haeckel studied scientifically.

  • Opening

    Curator Thomas Bach welcomed the numerous visitors to the Ernst Haeckel House for the Long Night of Museums 2025.
    In keeping with this year's motto, we gave an insight into the Hidden Treasures of Marine Biology.

    Custodian Thomas Bach welcomed the guests to the LNDM 2025.
    Image: Falko Bögelein

  • Radiolaria

    Roman Göbel from the "Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919): Briefedition" and Master's student Leon Retz showed the radiolarians under the microscope. The radiolarians showed their siliceous skeleton in a variety of guises. Haeckel studied the small microorganisms of the sea and described numerous new species.

    Radiolaria, smallest microorganisms in the sea, were visibly enlarged using a microscope.
    Image: Falko Bögelein

  • Radiolaria presented

    A presentation with materials on radiolarians gave an insight into Ernst Haeckel's research.

    A presentation provided further information on the radiolarians
    Image: Falko Bögelein

  • Medusen

    Under a magnifying glass, ephyra (pre-stage of jellyfish) and a historical specimen of two adult medusae (jellyfish) just under 1 cm in size could be seen.
    Some letters reflected Haeckel's fascination with his “favorite animals” and their changes of genus.

    Ephyra under a magnifying glass
    Image: Falko Bögelein

  • Exhibition wishes

    The “Make a wish” station entered its second round. Visitors made their wishes for the future exhibition and were able to see the results so far.
    And this year, the art of folding was also on display in the wish box: in the form of a paper airplane!

    Wish box with ballot papers
    Image: Bastienne Karg

  • Treasure hunt

    In the historic study, the treasure was in the form of numerous medusas. They were hidden in the shelves, on the chaise longue, on the ceiling, etc...
    Many treasure hunters found the small treasures and collected a gold point.

    The balcony room in the Ernst Haeckel House
    Image: Falko Bögelein

  • Villa medusa says good night

    The team at the Ernst Haeckel House would like to thank all treasure hunters for their visit and the numerous conversations!
    We look forward to seeing you again at the next Long Night of Museums in 2026!

    Villa Medusa by night
    Image: Falko Bögelein