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Fossilien- und Heimatmuseum Messel
Fossilien- und Heimatmuseum Messel
64409 Messel
The half-timbered house in Langgasse 2, which was used as a town hall until recently, has been transformed into a museum of fossils and local history by Museum Association Messel with the support of Messel. A multitude of finds can be seen on the first floor of the museum, among those are characteristic fossils of the Messel Pit. The exhibition represents a period of time of the Early Earth Modern Age, also called the Tertiary. In the Middle Eocene, about 50 million years ago, numerous animals and plants of a jungle lake as well as its surroundings were embedded in the lake's mud and have remained preserved with skin and hair. The fossil findings of the Messel Pit open a door to life 50 million years ago - a time which marks the beginning of the evolution of mammals.