Natural History Museum of Le Havre
About Natural History Museum of Le Havre
The Natural History Museum of Le Havre, founded in 1838 by French naturalist and explorer Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, is housed in an elegant 18th-century neoclassical building that originally served as the city's Palace of Justice. The museum features over 600 objects in its permanent collection spanning paleontology, mineralogy, ethnology, and zoology, including 155-million-year-old dinosaur fossils from nearby Cape de la Hève and nearly one million ethnological artifacts from Africa and Oceania. A highlight is the Lesueur Collection containing 8,000 drawings and manuscripts from his expeditions to Australia and America, including the only known sketches of the extinct King Island emu. After a comprehensive three-year renovation, the museum reopened in December 2025 with modernized interactive exhibits and family-friendly spaces. The building itself is architecturally notable, featuring an ornate facade with a pediment decorated with crown and seashell motifs. Entry is free for visitors under 26, students, and job seekers, with the first Saturday of each month free for everyone.
Interesting Facts
In 1802, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur created the only known sketches of the King Island emu in its natural habitat during Napoleon's Australian expedition. The species went extinct just 20 years later in 1822, making these drawings held at the museum the sole detailed visual record of this lost bird ever made from life.
During World War II, Le Havre was one of the most heavily bombed cities in France, and most of the museum's original collections were destroyed. However, curators had evacuated the irreplaceable Lesueur graphic arts collection and key paleontological specimens to safety, preserving these treasures for future generations.
The museum's founder returned to his birthplace of Le Havre after spending 21 years in the United States, where he had been elected to the prestigious American Philosophical Society. Appointed curator in March 1846, Lesueur died suddenly just nine months later in December 1846, leaving behind a legacy that includes Mount Lesueur and Lesueur National Park in Western Australia named in his honor.
Planning Your Visit
Opening Hours
Ticket Prices
Museum Entry
RecommendedLocation & Practical Info
Address
Place du Vieux Marché, 76600 Le Havre, France
Website
https://museum-lehavre.fr/Day Routes
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