Departments and collections
Natural Science Department
The Natural Science Department takes us through the story of the versatility of natural heritage from the Karlovac area, at the intersection of the Dinara and Pannonia regions. The cabinets hold the testimonies of the evolution of nature from the oldest geological periods, displaying traces of living and past worlds.
The activity of our curators made it possible to detect, identify and preserve some rare plant species. Mires were especially studied, as well the flora from Žumberak and fossils from the Kordun region. Prof. Vladimir Peršin was in charge of the Natural Science Department from its establishment in 1965 until his retirement in 1998.
Luka Čorak, curator
Phone number: +385 47 615 980 (4)
e-mail: luka.corak@mgk.hr
The Entomology Collection is the latest addition to the holdings of the Karlovac City Museum. This insect collection was established in 2018 and contains various species from the order of beetles (Coleoptera) and day-flying butterflies (Lepidoptera) from the Karlovac County. The collection was established because of the abundant entomological fauna of the Karlovac County which is relatively unexplored but attractive for visitors. Collection items are occasionally exhibited to allow visitors to enjoy them.
Butterfly Papilio machaon
(Linnaeus, 1758.)
Old World swallowtail
Butterfly Apatura illia
(Denis i Schiffermüller, 1775.)
lesser purple emperor
Beetle Lucanus cervus
(Linnaeus, 1758.)
stag beetle
The Geological and Paleontological Collection was established in the 1960s and contains interesting specimens of the flora and fauna from the territory of the Karlovac County, as well as specimens that do not originally have habitats in these areas, but play an important role as predecessors of the species we subsequently find in this region. It is exhibited in the permanent display of the Karlovac City Museum, and among its most interesting items are the remnants of the skeleton and teeth of a mammoth, cave bear, and wolverine, a species living to this day.
Ursus spelaeus
(Rosenmüller i Heinroth, 1794.)
jaw of a cave bear
Mammuthus primigenius
(Blumenbach, 1779)
molar of a woolly mammoth
Calcite
(CaCO3)
stalagmite
The Ichthyology Collection was established in 2019 and is the youngest of the collections in the Karlovac City Museum. It is the result of the cooperation between the Karlovac City Museum and the Public Institution Aquatika – Karlovac Freshwater Aquarium. Although the holdings are small, they feature only large, first-class specimens. Due to the traditionally high interest of Karlovac residents in fishing, the collection has great potential in representing the fish fauna of the rivers of Karlovac and beyond.
Esox lucius
Linnaeus, 1758
pike
Salmo trutta
Linnaeus, 1758
trout
Acipenser baerii
J. F. Brandt, 1758
Siberian sturgeon
The botanical collection, i.e. herbarium, is the result of diligent and conscientious work of the department founder, senior curator Vladimir Peršin. It contains the Karlovac County flora collected for years, and parts of educational herbaria created for primary and secondary schools at the turn of the 20th century, where the famous natural scientist Dragutin Hirc is mentioned as the author. It also contains more recent herbarium sheets collected by our fellow-citizens, alumni of the Faculty of Science in Zagreb.
Herbarium box with an herbarium sheet
Melilotus officinalis
(L.) Lam., Fabaceae (pea family)
sweet yellow clover
Sambucus nigra
L., Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle family)
black elder