Palaeobotanical collection

Most of these objects were collected during the twentieth century and discovered in the Rotliegendes formation of the Thuringian Forest (Manebach, Friedrichsroda). Other places of discovery include carboniferous strata close to Chemnitz, Keuper strata near Bedheim and Zechstein in Central Germany. In total, the collection comprises 1,500 objects.

In 1997, the collection expanded when Professor Dr Hans Joachim Schweitzer donated his comprehensive private collection. The 2,411 objects included valuable fossils from Spitzbergen, Bear Island, Iran, Afghanistan and Germany as well as various other regions. The collection mainly focuses on the Devonian (Rhenish Early Devonian, Spitzbergen Early/Middle Devonian, Bear Island Upper Devonian), the Zechstein (Rhineland) as well rhaeto-liassic strata from Iran and Afghanistan. 

Schweitzer’s collection is of international importance and unique in its composition. Since 2007, it has been on permanent loan at the Swedish Museum of Natural History where it can be accessed by scientists and scholars from all over the world. The collection includes important objects that can be used for fascinating exhibitions on plant evolution or palaeoecology.