Urweltmuseum Hauff in Holzmaden / Germany

[postsaurischian]

I'm planning a trip this month to the Urweltmuseum Hauff in Holzmaden, which is just a hundred kilometers away from where I live.
http://www.urweltmuseum.de/urweltmuseum/  -  English version: http://www.urweltmuseum.de/en/

Because 180 Million years ago the Swabian Alps were a Jurassic sea, the museum's focus is on Jurassic Sealife.
I'm going to take the camera with me. If anyone wants me to take pictures of something special, just let me know !

[Viking Spawn]

Please do!

[DinoLord]

Sounds like it'll be a fun trip! I've always been a fan of German ammonites; it'd be much appreciated if you could get some pictures of any outstanding specimens.

[postsaurischian]

I will have an eye on the ammonites .
Have you seen the ones from Zürich I took pictures of?
http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=809.msg110823#msg110823

[DinoToyForum]

Let me know if they've updated the name of 'Rhomaleosaurus' victor yet. I was there in 2014 and it was still out of date. They've had six years now since I renamed it Meyerasaurus in 2010.

[DinoLord]

I will have an eye on the ammonites .
Have you seen the ones from Zürich I took pictures of?
http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=809.msg110823#msg110823

No I hadn't; thanks for bringing those to my attention! They are certainly some beautiful specimens.

[postsaurischian]

Let me know if they've updated the name of 'Rhomaleosaurus' victor yet. I was there in 2014 and it was still out of date. They've had six years now since I renamed it Meyerasaurus in 2010.

Huh? The same problem that we had here in Karlsruhe at the Vivarium? Are the Germans being slow?

                                                                                   I will check that .

[DinoToyForum]

Let me know if they've updated the name of 'Rhomaleosaurus' victor yet. I was there in 2014 and it was still out of date. They've had six years now since I renamed it Meyerasaurus in 2010.

Huh? The same problem that we had here in Karlsruhe at the Vivarium? Are the Germans being slow?

                                                                                   I will check that .

It's museums in general, limited budget and time for updating graphics. And thanks!

[postsaurischian]

I have been there . It was a nice trip on a beautiful day. It's a small museum, but kind of special.


> part 1: Entering the museum










Hybodus hauffianus chasing cephalopods .....







Look at all the belemnoids in its stomach (250!) - they might have caused the shark's death.

[postsaurischian]

 > part 2: Marine reptiles


   Stenopterygius megacephalus (above) & Stenopterygius crassicostatus (below)









   Stenopterygius quadriscissus (above) & Stenopterygius crassicostatus (below)








   Temnodontosaurus trigonodon





   Hydrorion brachypterygius

Let me know if they've updated the name of 'Rhomaleosaurus' victor yet. I was there in 2014 and it was still out of date. They've had six years now since I renamed it Meyerasaurus in 2010.

I checked all exhibits at the museum, but there was no Rhomaleosaurus ... nor was there a Meyerasaurus .
I asked the two ladies who work there about both species, but they didn't know anything about them.
At first glance I thought this next one would be it when I entered that room, but it obviously isn't.

   Hauffiosaurus zanoni





   Steneosaurus bollensis







   Steneosaurus bollensis (above) & Steneosaurus (Mystriosaurus) bollensis (below)






   Pelagosaurus typus (above) & Platysuchus multiscrobiculatus (below)









   Steneosaurus chapmanni




   Pelagosaurus typus

[Lanthanotus]

Very nice photos, postsaurischian, thanks for sharing. Incredible fossils and a beautiful presentation. Germany may not boast the big mean dinosaurs like America, but the quality of fossils of different sites in Germany (like Holzmaden, Solnhofen or Messel) is well worth to be presentated in any museum.

[DinoToyForum]

Great photos! You know, I realise now that I was thinking of the Stuttgart museum, that's where the specimen of Meyerasaurus is on display! Sorry, and thank you for investigating anyway!

[Halichoeres]

Fantastic stuff! That'll be on my list when one day I visit Germany.

[postsaurischian]

  Thank you for the comments!

....... I realise now that I was thinking of the Stuttgart museum, that's where the specimen of Meyerasaurus is on display! .......

I was almost suspecting this. I've found a picture of a Stuttgart exhibit in an older book.
It was named Thaumatosaurus victor. Is it that one?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

> part 3: Fish, other sealife & some plants


   Lepidotus elvensis




   Dapedium stollorum




   Tetragonolepis semicinctus





   Leptolepis antisiodorensis




   Pachycormus curtus




   Pachycormus bollensis




   Sauropsis veroinalis




   Thrissops micropodius




   Lots of Ammonites .....










   Rana hauffiana




   ..... more Ammonites








   Ptilophyllum sp., Otozamites gracilis and a branch of a conifer




   Seirocrinus subangularis (on driftwood with Pseudomytiloides dubius on the right)




   A giant plate of a colony of Seirocrinus subangularis on driftwood with Pseudomytiloides dubius




   The worldwide biggest colony of sea lilies and clams   _{... with Vero
   (these are several hundreds of such sea lilies, the preparation took 18 years)}




   After you have left the museum you can go to one of the stone quarries
   and look for shells, ammonites or even a fish if you're lucky.

[Doug Watson]

Thank you for posting this, what an impressive collection. I of course especially appreciate the life restorations that accompany some of the fossils. I really like the restoration of the Steneosaurus?
I tried to sell CMN on the idea of at least doing a scale model to accompany some of their specimens on display but they didn't go for it. Of course I was volunteering my paid services.

[DinoLord]

Thanks for sharing, especially the ammonite photos. The variety is breathtaking!

Overall it looks like an impressive institution with a great diversity of specimens. In the typical American museums, such marine fossils would constitute a minority of the collections. The life restorations are another great touch - few museums have them, and out of those even fewer have ones that are actually accurate and aesthetically pleasing.

[btb300]

Thanks for sharing, especially the ammonite photos. The variety is breathtaking!

I have to agree, absolutely stunning gallery of pictures.

[Viking Spawn]

Wowsers!  Your photos are stunning!   

[tyra-rex2]

The displays are impressive.  The smaller boxes of specimens remind me of the Arizona Fossil and Mineral Show.  Of course, the larger displays also look like the Show, at least that's the way it looks before the major buyers arrive...

[Libraraptor]

Great pictures! This museum is still on my agenda, too. But in this dinosaur diaspora I live in, each highlight is more than 200 kilometers away. From me to Holzmaden it´s even 400 kilometers, which is far too much for an average Sunday trip.  Except for the great Nehden and Balve finds of lower cretaceaous Iguanodon and Raptor faunas, each maximally 60 kilometers away, I live in a dino enthusiast´s desert.