Dr. Ludwig Luthardt
Scientific Head of Collection
Sub-collection
Plants and Fossil Plants
Plant fossils dating back over 500 million years and extensive comparative collections of modern plants – key resources for research into early ecosystems and the history of vegetation
Overview
The paleobotany collection comprises about 300,000 specimens, including nearly 10,000 illustrated specimens and types. Ranging from meter-long fossil trunks to microscopic pollen grains, they cover virtually the entire evolutionary history of plants from the Devonian through the Holocene. The collection offers a wide variety of fossil plant relicts in varying states of preservation, including large frond plates, silicified tree trunks, diverse imprints, fossil seeds, or preparations of leaf epidermis and pollen. The fossils of more than 5,000 different taxa come from all over the world, with the primary collection focus on the fossil flora of central Europe.
Contact
Access
The paleobotanical collection is open to visitors. It is currently located at an off-site facility in Berlin-Altmoabit. Visit requests can be submitted at any time.
The collection is currently undergoing a digital transformation. The collection is being cataloged and digitized, step by step according to priority. Type specimens and originals have already been fully recorded. We support external research inquiries and offer access to existing research infrastructure on a collaborative basis. In addition, a reprint collection is available, comprising over 25,000 items; these are currently being digitized. Reprints cannot be loaned out to external parties.
Due to restoration and relocation efforts, access to the herbarium is currently limited. However, inquiries may still be submitted. The herbarium specimens are currently being re-mounted, inventoried, and digitally cataloged. All specimens have already been entered into a database and will be made available digitally in the future.
History
The collection’s origins date back to before the founding of the University of Berlin in 1810.
In course with the founding of the Royal Prussian Mining Academy in 1770, a first educational collection with fossil plants was established, which by 1801 was housed in its own building open to the public in Berlin, the „Alte Münze.“ The collection was transferred to the Humboldt University after its foundation, in 1810. During the first decades of the 19th century, several significant collections were acquired. The bulk of the collection was assembled in the collection of the Prussian State Geological Institute—later the Central Geological Institute (ZGI)—until the early 1950s. In 1968–69, the collections were transferred to the Geological-Paleontological Institute of Natural History Museum. Since then, the collection has been steadily expanded through the acquisition of subcollections from universities or private collectors.
The historically most significant collection is the Kabinett and Schlotheim Collection, comprising approximately 1,550 specimens and an accompanying catalog from 1836. Ernst F. von Schlotheim (1764–1832) described various taxa in this collection and, together with Kaspar von Sternberg (1761–1838), is considered the founder of modern paleobotany.
Other notable paleobotanists who worked in Berlin include Christian E. Weiss (1833–1890), Henry Potonié (1857–1913), Walther Gothan (1879–1954), and Manfred Barthel (1934–2019).
Research
For many years, various areas of the collections have been the subject of research with different focal points. These include taxonomy and systematics, the evolution of land plants, paleoecology, and paleoclimatology.
In the Paleozoic, a focus is on the Lower to Middle Devonian of the Rhenish Slate Mountains as well as on the tens of thousands of impression/compression fossils from the Carboniferous of Europe. Of particular interest are extensive collections from outcrops of the Pennsylvanian and early Permian. Research topics include the early evolution of seed plants, changes in terrestrial ecosystems during the Late Paleozoic, and the evolution of organismic interactions.
The Mesozoic era offers numerous plant fossils from the Triassic of southern and central Germany, as well as from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of northern Germany. In addition, there are several international collections, for example from Africa, South America, Asia, and the Arctic. Potential research topics include the radiation of gymnosperms and the early evolution of angiosperms.
From the Cenozoic, fossil floras of central Europe are particularly well-documented, some of which are directly related to lignite mining activity (central Germany, the Czech Republic). In addition to numerous fossils from the Geiseltal fossil deposit near Halle, the collection of fossil seeds by Hans-Dieter Mai—comprising more than 25,000 specimens and extensive type material—is also noteworthy. Fossil plant inclusions can also be found in the MfN’s amber collection.
Herbarium
The herbarium („Schrader Herbarium“) originally served as a reference collection for fossil plants. It comprises approximately 45,000 specimens, as well as a collection of modern-plant seeds („Mai Collection“), which currently consists of about 30,000 collection units. The herbarium was assembled in the 19th century by the Royal Prussian Chief Librarian Johann E. J. Schrader (1809–1898). Notable collectors included Rudolph F. Hohenacker (1798–1874) and Hans Freiherr von Türckheim (1853–1920). The herbarium also contains unique specimens from the Indian and Central Asian flora collected by the Schlagintweit brothers, the main part of whose collection was completely destroyed by fire during World War II. The herbarium focuses on the Holarctic and Neotropical regions.
Of particular note are the herbarium’s taxonomic diversity and its unique historical context. This has resulted in a remarkably high density of more than 500 known type specimens (primarily para- and isotypes). The comparative collection of recent seeds comprises approximately 24,000 species from over 400 families, and more than 150 cones. About 300 species have been featured as illustrated specimens in publications to date. In addition, there is collection of cuticle and pollen preparation and a small collection of recent wood specimens.