DINOSAUR MUSEUM ALTMÜHLTAL!

At the beginning of November, I had a visit from my nieces and nephews, who are currently in the dinosaur phase. The Dinosaur Museum in Denkendorf is an hour’s drive from Regensburg, so a day trip there was a good idea. After a leisurely 60-minute drive through the beautiful Altmühltal valley, you can already see the dinosaur flags at the large parking lot – the address is appropriately “Dinopark 1”. Tickets are available at the entrance and dogs are allowed on a lead. The site also offers organic food and drinks, a lakeside restaurant with service and a self-service beer garden in the forest.
In addition to a very interesting museum, there is also a forest trail of around 1.5 kilometers to explore. On the forest tour, you walk through 400 million years of the earth’s history and see 70 lifelike replicas of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Some of these animals are so big that you can walk underneath them.

But first we visited the Archaeopteryx pavilion just behind the entrance. There is an original fossil of the prehistoric bird. An overview on the wall explains that thirteen skeletons of the genus Archaeopteryx and one feather have been found so far. This twelfth specimen was discovered in the adventure quarry in Schamhaupten in the district of Eichstätt on the eastern edge of the Köschinger Forest and, with an age of 153 million years, is probably the oldest Archaeopteryx specimen to date. The prehistoric bird is now on display here in the Dinosaur Museum Altmühltal, about 10 km from where it was found. Really impressive!

Further world sensations follow in the large museum hall. First you see some fossil finds, for example the Dakosaurus, a 5.5 meter long marine crocodile and ruler of the Jurassic Sea. The fossilization of this five-meter-long animal is the world’s largest slab limestone fossil. It is around 130 to 150 million years old and was found in Painten, Bavaria. Or Sciurumimus, a baby predatory dinosaur with a fur coat.

Fossil finds from Painten in the Dinosaur Museum Altmühltal

But the most impressive exhibit in the hall is probably the only skeleton of a young T. rex (Tyrannosaurus rex), called “ROCKY”. At ten meters long, “Rocky” is the only original skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex in the world, one of only three original Tyrannosaurus skeletons in Europe and the only specimen on display in Germany. The skeleton is between 66 and 68 million years old and was found in the US state of South Dakota.

Rocky, the only original skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex in the world

In addition to Rocky, there is also “LITTLE AL”, the original skeleton of the youngest allosaur ever found. It was found in 2011 during excavations in the US state of Wyoming.
The agile little predatory dinosaur has been known since Jurassic Park at the latest. The two-year-old Jurassic dinosaur could run faster (up to around 35 km/h) and with greater endurance than its larger contemporaries. In addition to these two originals, there are also life-size reconstructions of the largest and heaviest pterosaur ever found, with a wingspan of 14 meters. The name of this large pterosaur is “Dracula”, as it was found in Transylvania, Romania, in 2009.

When we were there, there was also a special exhibition entitled “Dinosaur eggs – offspring of the giant lizards”, with original fossils. Among other things, eggs of long-necked dinosaurs, the clutch of a duckbill and several clutches of bird-like predatory dinosaurs were on display.

The forest trail:

The 1.5 km adventure trail through the forest starts behind the large playground (where you can also see dinosaurs, of course). It takes you through the different geological eras, from the Palaeozoic to the Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and ends in the modern era. A truly exciting journey through 400 million years of evolutionary history. Over 70 life-size replicas invite you to experience and touch science up close.

Numerous panels provide information about the geological eras and explain, among other things, how the dinosaurs evolved and why they became extinct. You can also find out what all the names mean, from Brachiosaurus to the giant Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurus – the word dinosaur comes from ancient Greek and means “terrible lizard”. Halfway along the trail, you can stop for refreshments in the forest beer garden.

Triceratops means “three-horned face” in ancient Greek

At the end of the adventure trail, you reach the Earth’s modern era, with unusual mammals, Neanderthals, the Ice Age and much more. From the circular route back, you can see models of the earth from the prehistoric continent of Pangaea to the present day. And if you would like to hammer stones yourself, you can do so in the hands-on hall.

The mammoth, an extinct species of elephant

To be honest, my expectations of the Dinosaur Park were not particularly high. I was wrong, the museum hall alone was spectacular! There really is a lot to see, to marvel at, to touch, the tour is really well done and very informative. The dinosaur memory game with my nieces and nephews was much easier after this informative excursion into palaeontology.

Have fun discovering, Annette

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