Over a million zoological species preserved in alcohol go on display at Berlin's Natural History Museum

The Daily Mail has published fascinating images that show just a fraction of one the largest collection of preserved zoological specimens in the world.

A shark and myriad other creatures lie preserved in alcohol in the East Wing of the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany.

The East Wing houses a three-storey steel and glass structure in which 276,000 glass cylinders containing 81,880 litres of alcohol line more than seven miles of shelves containing over one million fish, reptiles, mammals, spiders, worms, crabs, insects and invertebrae.

The original East Wing was destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War, when a bomb crashed into the 'Anatomical Hall' exhibition on the ground floor, tearing away the pillar of the east wing of the museum and sending the specimens collapsing into the basement.



In 1995, museum staff decided to modernise and overhaul the museum, including the reconstruction of the East Wing, which was completed in 2010.
 

The Museum of Natural History now has probably the world's most modern zoological collection building for natural history collections in alcohol, also known as 'wet collections'.

"These are valuable, irreplaceable cultural assets that have been collected over two centuries and remain indispensable for biological research to this day, and are extensively used internationally," the museum said in a statement.

"It is a milestone for the preservation of our collections and provides optimal conditions for research into biodiversity and evolution."

Because of the damage the museum sustained during the bombing, many specimens are in a poor condition, often with information missing which has to be painstakingly researched.

"For me the biggest gift is that only six jars broke during the move," Peter Bartsch, the curator of the collection, told Bild 
newspaper.

The museum also hosts many expertly reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, including the world’s biggest dinosaur skeleton, a Brachiosaurus, which stands over 13 metres tall.