Geiseltalmuseum celebrates 100 years of fossil research

The Geiseltalmuseum in Halle is hosting an exhibition titled ‘Fossil Lagerstätte Geiseltal: 100 Years of Research and Paleoart’ from November 6 to 8. The event commemorates a century since the start of systematic vertebrate fossil excavations in the Geiseltal region.

The exhibition features selected fossils, historical reconstruction drawings, and contemporary paleoart. It highlights a subtropical ecosystem that existed in central Germany approximately 45 million years ago. Notable finds include remains of ancestral horses, land-dwelling crocodiles, and flightless giant birds.

Curator Roberto Rozzi noted the exceptional preservation of the fossils, which include stomach contents of ancestral horses and pigment cells in amphibian skin. The Geiseltal collection contains approximately 50,000 scientifically documented fossils and is considered a national cultural asset of Germany.