A fire broke out in one of Germany's largest natural history museums on Friday night.
No one was injured in the fire at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, the fire brigade announced on Saturday.
Among other things, the museum is known for its huge dinosaur skeletons.
The amount of damage was unknown for the time being. A police spokesman said, "A technical defect in the basement is suspected."
The upper rooms had filled with smoke, he added. The Senckenberg museum said it closed its doors to visitors over the weekend "due to technical faults."
According to the fire brigade, the fire had broken out in a windowless side room without exhibits in the electrical distribution system. The flames were quickly brought under control.
The fire brigade, with 20 firefighters in six vehicles, used mobile ventilators in the large building, which is more than 100 years old, to ventilate the smoke through other rooms and more distant windows into the open air.
The police spokesman announced the deployment of fire investigators.
