Revenue - Disaggregation (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue	$ 599.9	$ 521.1	$ 490.2	$ 461.4	$ 553.6	$ 466.6	$ 443.7	$ 431.7	$ 2,072.6	$ 1,895.6	$ 1,765.9
Revenue recognized at a point in time
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									1,847.4	1,716.8
Revenue recognized over time
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									225.2	178.8
Bruker BioSpin
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									621.4	591.1
Bruker CALID
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									623.5	547.8
Bruker Nano
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									632.7	568.1
BEST
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									209.9	194.8
Eliminations
Revenues disaggregated by Group
Total revenue									$ (14.9)	$ (6.2)	$ (9.2)