The Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden was given this year’s European Museum of the Year award during an online ceremony on Thursday.

The jury praised the museum for its ‘impressive research record and diverse collections that focus on topics with universal appeal’.

Naturalis started a 10 year refurbishment costing some €70m in 2009, turning it into a state of the art biodiversity research centre which quickly became a leader in the field in Europe. It opened again in 2019, attracting 275,000 visitors in four months before it was closed because of coronavirus measures.

‘Love and emotion inform the museum’s approach to enhancing public awareness of the decline of biodiversity worldwide and value of nature and our relationship to it. The consistency of this approach makes this museum so memorable,’ the jury said.

Director Edwin van Huis said he was chuffed the museum had won – beating his Leiden colleagues from the Lakenhal as well as private museum LAM in Lisse, and such international competition as the Futurium in Berlin and the Copenhagen Museum. Some 27 museums vied for the prize.

‘The fascination for the beauty and diversity of nature forms the foundation of the museum,’ he told broadcaster NOS. ‘If people open their hearts to nature they will look after it better. And that is needed now more than ever.’

The European Museum of the Year award was founded in 1977 to promote excellence in museums. Among the Dutch winners are the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave which won in 2019 and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam which was given the award in 2015.