Opening of the Molassic Park exhibition

The new special exhibition “Molassic Park” has been on display at the museum since December 16. The exhibition was opened the evening before with over a hundred guests.

The exhibition Molassic Park – an expedition to Bavaria’s great apes, primitive elephants and subtropical forests was developed as a joint project by Museum Mensch und Natur, Biotopia – Naturkundemuseum Bayern, the Bavarian State Collection of Palaeontology and Geology, the Munich-Nymphenburg Botanical Gardens and the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. The exhibition was inspired by the discovery of bones of the great ape Danuvius Guggenmosi, known as “Udo”, who lived 11.6 million years ago and who probably already walked upright. The exhibition goes far beyond this, however, as visitors are given an insight into the development of the landscape, flora and fauna between 17 and 11 million years ago – including the time of the impact of the Ries asteroid 15 million years ago.

Dr. Madelaine Böhme, Professor of Terrestrial Palaeoclimatology at the University of Tübingen and head of the excavation team that found the fossils of “Udo”, and Caroline Illinger, who played a leading role in the conception of the traveling exhibition, spoke at the exhibition opening. Introductory remarks by Museum Director Prof. Stefan Hölzl were followed by words of welcome from Lord Mayor David Wittner, Deputy District Administrator Claudia Marb and Dr. Elisabeth Schepers, Secretary General of the Bavarian State Natural History Collections.