The first St. Ottilien missionaries who were sent out to East Africa in 1887 had a mandate from the head of the community to send back to St. Ottilien as much illustrative material as possible. This was to give the home-based community members an idea of the local circumstances abroad and to prepare young confreres for their future mission work. The missionary collection created by these efforts opened to the public in 1911; it is the base for the present-day Missionsmuseum. Due to frequent changes of location in the mission country, brisk construction activity resulting from high demand for space and shortage of personnel, it is unlikely the collecting activities started before 1894.
Attention focused on cultural and natural history objects of all kinds. The latter included zoologica collected on shore. Starting from the end of 1889, the Missionary Benedictines operated a house in Dar es Salaam, and from 1901 another house in Lindi, in the southeast of the country. From these two seaside towns most zoological objects from the sea are likely to have come to St. Ottilien.
The exact provenance of the objects from the natural history collection of the museum is documented only for a small part of the objects; records about the origin of the objects were not a primary focus of the St. Ottilien missionaries. Today, most of the animals in the collection as well as the depository of the Missionsmuseum come under the regulations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and fauna issued in 1976. However, we know for sure that our zoological collection originates from decades earlier.
Whale vertebra

Sea turtle


Inventory no 3039
All seven species of sea turtle are today endangered animals; they are especially vulnerable when they come ashore to lay their eggs.
Sea turtles have a flattened streamline body and paddle forelegs. In contrary to their terrestrial relatives, they are carnivores.
The exhibited specimen of unknown provenance has bullet holes.
Manatee skull

Sea snake

Marine molluscs

Thornback ray


Inventory no Z2002
Rays have an extremely flattened body and big flippers grown together with their head. Its mouth, the nasal orifices and five pairs of gill slits sit on the flattened bright underside. On the upper side are their eyes and the blowholes with outlets where the water for breathing comes in.
Some types like the giant oceanic manta ray can have a wingspan of 7 meters and a weight of 2 tons.
Spider crab


Inventory no 2059
Spider crabs belong to the crab species with around 700 marine types; their carapace is more long than wide.
Legs and claws are long and spidery. Body and legs are covered with hooklike bristles where the animals fix algae and other foreign objects as camouflage.
In the last moulting a strong sexual dimorphism is evident; the males have much biger claws than the females. The omnivores live on algae, animals and carrion.
Porcupine fish


Inventory no Z2012
Porcupine fish live in shallow subtropical and troical seas; they live coral reefs. Pucupine fish, like blowfish, have spikes on their body which are longer and stronger. In case of danger they blow up with water, the spines erect. In this defensive attitude they can only be devoured by large fish.