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Tristan tours Europe

October 11, 2016

Berlin's Museum of Natural History is home to one of the world's best-preserved dinosaur skeletons - and now, the dinosaur's skull will be part of a Europe-wide promotional campaign to encourage tourism.

https://p.dw.com/p/2R6Ov
Tyrannosaurus rex Skelett in Berlin
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Radke/Museum of Natural History Berlin

It's the first time that the city has used a dinosaur in a campaign like this. A life-sized replica of the dinosaur's skull will be displayed in Warsaw, Madrid, and Zürich. "Tristan Otto" is actually a Tyrannosaurus rex that's four meters high by 12 meters long.

Prof. Johannes Vogel, the museum's general director, says that there's a huge amount of interest in Tristan, both in Germany and overseas. So far, more than 650,000 people from all over the world have come to the museum to see the dinosaur's skeleton. The museum's research staff are constantly working to find out more about Tristan's physiology and the environment in which he lived, and to share this data with the public. Vogel predicts that Tristan will help to promote Berlin as a world-class center for research, culture, and tourism.

The tour is set to begin in Warsaw on October 17 -  complete with pop-up retail stores that offer trendy Berlin products, and live performances at pop-up clubs.

Berlin's tourism marketing board "visitBerlin" came up with the idea of featuring Tristan in its latest promotional campaign, and they're sure he's going to be a big hit wherever he goes.

is/ks/jm (visitBerlin/Berliner Morgenpost)