Institute of Earth Sciences Museum and Collections of the Institute of Earth Sciences

The museum of the Institute of Earth Sciences displays objects from the Geological-Paleontological Collection and the Mineralogical Collection

The collections of the Institute of Earth Sciences comprise around 300,000 minerals, rocks, and fossils. In the geological section of the museum, representative specimens from the respective geological eras are displayed, accompanied by paleogeographic maps of plate tectonics and their typical fossils. Through fossil finds from various epochs, palaeontology offers a far-reaching insight into the diversity of extinct life, from dinosaurs to mammoths. In the mineral and rock collection, the journey reaches even further back into the past and shows the diversity of modern mineralogy. Particularly unique is the section on the Mauer interglacial period, which vividly presents the world-famous mandible of Homo heidelbergensis in its own time.

The foundation for the collection was laid in1784 with the relocation of the Kameral Hohe Schule from Kaiserslautern to Heidelberg. A total of 30 bullock carts were required to transport the library and the collections to Heidelberg. By 1818, the mineral cabinet had grown further through the merging of several collections and, for space reasons, was moved to the former Dominican monastery and later to a hall in the university building at Heidelberg’s Universitätsplatz. During the 19th century, the collection continued to grow and had to move several times, mostly due to lack of space. The present exhibition at Neuenheimer Feld therefore not only offers a deeper insight into the earth sciences but also illustrates a long history of collecting.