The MEERESMUSEUM in Stralsund's historic city centre is the oldest location of the Ocean Museum Germany. After four years of extensive modernization, visitors can now view the exhibitions and the first aquariums.

At the entrance to the church hall of the former St. Catherine's Dominican Monastery, guests are greeted by an impressive multimedia presentation of a hunt for a shoal of sardines. The subsequent exhibition tour is dedicated to the development of marine life and its diversity, sheds light on the interactions between humans and the sea and highlights strategies for sustainable fishing. New airy bands of showcases stretch like gentle waves over two floors. On the upper floor, faithfully recreated habitats with prepared and modeled animals trace the path from the Antarctic to the Arctic. A 15-metre-long biodiversity wall pays tribute to the often underestimated diversity of marine invertebrates such as octopuses, jellyfish and crabs. Particularly popular objects from the previous exhibition, such as the leatherback turtle “Marlene”, the five-metre-high original coral reef pillar from the Red Sea and the famous fin whale skeleton in the choir are still on display. The globe from the former entrance area is now used for a digital display with marine themes.

The figure maker Peter Ardelt from Dresden created impressive full-size replicas of sharks, dolphins and a Bryde's whale. At ten meters long, the largest model is a whale shark that floats above other different species of shark under the vault.

Work is currently underway on the new building with an impressive large aquarium. The largest tank, with 700,000 liters of water, will feature a “Caribbean Reef”. From spring, visitors are expected to have barrier-free access to the completely renovated aquarium cellar, which will showcase habitats from the Caribbean to the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The Maldives and their sea turtles round off the 31 tanks of the journey through the tropical underwater world.

Together with the OZEANEUM, the MEERESMUSEUM now offers a very comprehensive and complementary range of information about the seas and oceans of our planet.