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PressNatural History
The Jura rock in the region is often rich in fossils, such as ammonites – but it is rare to find pieces that are almost the size of a wagon wheel.
Ice Age gravel: It may only be a stone, but it still tells the story of its formation and its long journey during the ice ages from the Alps to Schaffhausen.
Fish dinosaur: The tail of the fish dinosaur consists of over 50 vertebrae and measures 2.6 meters. It was found near Beggingen in rock layers that are around 170 million years old.
Crocodile: The bones and bone plates of a marine crocodile found a few years ago prove that these animals lived here in the shallow and warm Jurassic Sea.
Pasque flower: The pasque flower is one of the most attractive plant species in the Schaffhausen region. Thanks to evidence in herbaria and written sources, its occurrence is documented.
Mammoth tooth: Fossil remains of mammoths have been found several times in glacial gravel and peat layers of the warm phases.
Minerals: Ferdinand Schalch’s geological collection comprises over 50,000 individual pieces, including numerous minerals from the Saxon Ore Mountains.
Red kite: The red kite is a rare bird of prey worldwide, as its breeding area is limited to Central Europe. However, it is a common sight in our skies.
Butterflies from the Ris collection: The zoological and botanical collections are the “original meters” of nature. Thanks to them, changes in fauna and flora can be scientifically documented.
Stone marten: The collection of native mammals is being successively expanded through purchases such as this one. Many of these specimens are also available for loan to schools.
Fossilized leaves: The excellently preserved fossil plants from the Upper Freshwater Molasse near Öhningen are evidence of a warm and humid climate when cinnamon and fig trees thrived in our region.
Volcanites: Less than ten million years ago, volcanoes were bubbling in Hegau.
Forest rhinoceros: In the last warm phase around 100,000 years ago, forest rhinoceroses and other large mammals colonized also our region.
The natural history collection now comprises some 150,000 objects from the fields of geology, zoology, and botany. Particularly unique are the various herbaria and butterfly collections, which scientifically demonstrate the change in regional species over the past 150 years and are regularly used for current questions in biodiversity research.
Of the utmost scientific importance and irreplaceable are the surviving holotypes and original illustrations, including the collections of Ferdinand Schalch and Theodor Vogelsanger. The Herbarium Vivum Ehrharti from the mid-18th century (the first commercially produced herbarium, of which only two other examples exist), the extensive herbarium of Samuel Brunner from the 1830s, and the manuscripts of the Würtenberger family of geologists from Dettighofen are also of great international importance.
The natural history department also includes the Stemmler Museum, which houses the collection of the furrier, taxidermist, and conservationist Carl Stemmler in an authentic presentation and is unique in the museum landscape.
