Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The origins of the collections of the Natural History Museum date back to revolutionary seizures, forming an initial nucleus enriched throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Society of Historical and Natural Sciences of Yonne, a local learned society, played a key role in collecting objects for the departmental museum, covering then the fine arts, archaeology and natural sciences. These collections, which were initially diversified, provided a significant scientific foundation before the natural sciences section gained its autonomy.

In 1979, the Natural Sciences section became independent and was transferred in 1980 to its present location: a 19th century bourgeois house, surrounded by a park, belonging to the Guilliet family, local industrial. Since then, the Museum of Auxerre, labeled Museum of France, has devoted itself to the study and enrichment of its collections, focusing on the regional biodiversity, past and present. The site now houses 160,000 specimens, including 93 scientific reference types, mainly fossil fish and crustaceans.

Heritage assets include an 18th-century medicinal herbarium from the Hôtel-Dieu (present-day Saint-Germain Abbey), a 19th-century Yonne flora, and botanical models of Vilmorin-Andrieux plaster. The museum also preserves the Paul Bert fonds, composed of scientific archives, manuscripts and instruments. A 19th-century greenhouse and a complete ornithological collection complete this heritage, demonstrating the historic importance of the site for the research and dissemination of natural sciences.

The location of the museum, at 5 boulevard Vauban in Auxerre (Yonne), is confirmed by the Museofile and Monumentum bases, although the cartographic accuracy is considered poor (note 5/10). The building, formerly owned by an industrial family, illustrates both 19th century bourgeois architecture and the evolution of scientific museums in the region.

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