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The Museum of medical history books Muri is a museum of living books. It invites you on an exciting journey through time into the history of medicine and natural history.

Why is the anatomical picture book "De Humani Corporis Fabrica" by Andreas Vesalius the most well-known historical medical work of all time?  In the subject area of "body images", the sought after second edition of 1555 is exhibited. Its author, the confident young anatomy professor Vesalius, wanted to look into dead bodies with his own eyes and not blindly rely on earlier authorities.

Why was it that Leonhart Fuchs' "New Kreuterbuch" became the most important herbal for doctors and pharmacists? In the subject area of "medical practice" is a carefully coloured first edition from the year 1543. In it is the first representation of an ear of corn, which you can still recognise today.

Why did the Swiss physician Johann Jacob Scheuchzer not publish his monumental work the "Kupfer-Bibel" in Zurich? In the subject area of "knowledge of nature" are the four massive volumes from the years 1731–1735. The first printed sheets were secretly smuggled over the border to Augsburg to escape the strict Reformed censors in Zurich.

What is an incunabulum? In the permanent exhibition you will discover four copies of these rare early printed books which were produced before 1500.

How did Charles Darwin recognise that the varieties of plants and animals are subject to change? The current Special Exhibition connects the life and work of the extraordinary scientist. The selection of his books includes Orchids, worms and the Origin of Species. Each text reveals his careful scientific observation and is also testimony to his never-ending curiousity.