Chemnitz petrified forest

The Petrified Forest of Chemnitz is a significant palaeobotanical fossil site. The exhibited in Chemnitz finds are among the attractions of the city.

History and Geology

Since the first record in 1737 were encountered in Hilber village, now a district of Chemnitz, in chess Tung work again on silicified trunks of large, tree -like, prehistoric plants. Mid-18th century was a resident of near Chemnitz gem inspector David Frenzel ( 1691-1772 ) conceal many of these pebbles woods in order to produce gemstones, including in 1751 one of the few copies with even ansitz roots. Later, a Finder, which Hilbersdorfer Contractors Guldner, Chemnitz King Albert Museum bequeathed some petrified logs. The former first director of the museum, Johann Traugott Sterzel, took over the investigation of the finds. Is dedicated to him in the museum and the Sterzeleanum.

The emergence of the Chemnitz fossil site that contains mainly strains of tree ferns and horsetails riesenwüchsigen, is related to the outbreak of Zeisigwald volcano in the lower Permian, about 291 million years. At the outbreak of the tree-like plant, as happened with the trees in 1980 at Mount St. Helens, were uprooted by the blast of the eruption or kinked and entästet. The strains were then with 80 to 100 ° C hot ejection materials of the volcano ( pyroclastic ) covered. The silica contained in these ejection materials provided in the following millions of years for the fossilization of Permian plants so that they are preserved until today.

Most of the tribes are now exhibited in the Museum of Natural History and Culture in Chemnitz department store DAStietz, including slices of strains with smooth cutting surface. A small collection can also be seen at the Zeißstraße. In 1996, a further petrified strain was found on the Hilbersdorfer hallway. From April 4, 2008 to October 2010 were searched for tribes again on a plot at the Frankenberger road. A copy of the found there Riesenschachtelhalms Arthropitys bistriata shows a multiple branching, as it was so far from horsetails not known. Therefore, this exceptional Fund received by the Paleontological Society award Fossil of the Year 2010. He was integrated into the permanent exhibition. In May 2013 New excavations at the Glockenstraße were begun.

Also well preserved is the Chemnitz " early saurians ' - the first animal in the Petrified Forest Fund.