Eduard Opitsch

Eduard Opitsch (* 1900, † 1991) was a German quarry owner who discovered a specimen of Archaeopteryx in 1956.

He found this fossil in his quarry on the Long Altheimer Haardt at Solnhofen and set it initially to the museum on the Maxberg as a loan; this results in the designation as Maxberger copy.

In 1974 he took the fossil in his private collection back, made ​​it no longer accessible to the public and even refused any further scientific investigation.

At his death in 1991, the fossil was missing in his collection, without whose whereabouts could be clarified. Also investigation of the prosecution were not successful. Residents from Solnhofen expressed the presumption Opitsch could have destroyed the Archaeopteryx, so he does not fall into the hands of his heirs.