Fritz Müller Museum

The Fritz Müller Museum honors the German naturalist who spent four decades studying the ecology of the Atlantic Forest and the rivers around Blumenau, corresponding with Charles Darwin and contributing crucial evidence for the theory of evolution. The museum is small but worthwhile — a reminder that Blumenau's contribution to history goes beyond beer and half-timbered buildings.

The exhibits cover Müller's scientific work, his collections of local flora and fauna, and his relationship with Darwin. For anyone interested in the history of evolutionary biology, this is an unexpected find in a Brazilian beer city.

things to do museum
A story
Fritz Müller came to Brazil in 1852, initially as a colonist, and spent the rest of his life studying the biology of the Atlantic Forest and the rivers of Santa Catarina. His correspondence with Charles Darwin — which began in the 1860s and continued for decades — was pivotal in providing Darwin with evidence for natural selection from tropical species. Darwin described Müller as "one of the greatest naturalists in the world." Müller died in Blumenau in 1897.