BROMACKER

The collaborative project „BROMACKER – Opening up Science: New Approaches to Knowledge Transfer, using the BROMACKER research project as an example“ ran from 2020 to 2025 and combined world-leading international research with innovative science communication. During the project period, systematic excavations at Bromacker were resumed after more than ten years, numerous significant fossils were recovered, and new findings on the approximately 290-million-year-old ecosystem were published. However, many of the recovered finds are still being prepared and scientifically analysed. The publication of further research findings will therefore continue in the coming years.

The collaborative project, funded by the former Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), was carried out jointly by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, the Friedenstein Stiftung Gotha, Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the UNESCO Global Geopark Thuringia Inselsberg – Drei Gleichen.

A globally unique fossil site

The Bromacker in the Thuringian Forest is one of the most significant fossil sites of the Early Permian. Around 290 million years ago, this area was a riverine landscape on the supercontinent Pangaea, where early terrestrial vertebrates, plants and invertebrates evolved – long before the dinosaurs appeared.

The site is unique worldwide because it preserves exceptionally well-preserved skeletons, trackways, burrows, skin impressions and fossils of plants and invertebrates within a single geological context. This combination makes it possible not only to study individual species, but also to reconstruct entire communities and their environment.

Deciphering the Bromacker ecosystem

The project focused on reconstructing an early terrestrial ecosystem. To this end, experts in palaeontology, geology, biology and digital technologies worked closely together, combining traditional excavation work with state-of-the-art methods such as computed tomography, 3D digitisation, histology, isotope analysis and sedimentology.

Since excavations resumed in 2020, more than 1,500 fossils have been recovered, including skeletons, bones, tracks, burrow systems, plant remains and invertebrate fossils. Several new species have already been described, whilst numerous other finds are currently being analysed by scientists. Every year, the excavations bring new discoveries to light – including extensive bone deposits, fossilised burrow systems, small skeletons of early reptiles and a layer of ash that could enable more precise dating of the strata in future.

The research has provided new insights into biodiversity, food chains, locomotion, growth and the way of life of early terrestrial vertebrates, as well as into the climate, landscape and environmental conditions of the Early Permian. It contributes to a better understanding of the emergence of modern terrestrial ecosystems and the evolution of early amniotes – the common ancestors of today’s mammals, reptiles and birds.

A distinctive feature of the Bromacker site is the co-occurrence of bone fossils and the associated tracks of the same fauna. This combination, which is rare worldwide, makes it possible to reconstruct the behaviour, locomotion and habitats of extinct animals in greater detail than at almost any other fossil site.

Making science transparent

A key feature of the project was the close integration of research and science communication. The transfer of knowledge was not merely the result of the research, but an integral part of the project from the very outset.

During the annual excavation campaigns, visitors were able to look over the researchers’ shoulders whilst they were working and strike up conversations with them. This was complemented by guided tours of the excavation site, social media content, digital resources, project-related websites, as well as exhibitions and public engagement events organised by the project partners. During the 2025 excavation alone, more than 1,400 people took the opportunity to visit the excavations on site and engage with the research team.

Through initiatives such as the Friedenstein Stiftung Gotha’s BROMACKER Lab, the research process itself became the subject of an exhibition. Artifact preparation, scientific analyses and the latest research findings were made immediately accessible to the public. The project exemplified how research and science communication can work together on an equal footing and opened up new avenues for dialogue between science and society.

Significance for research and society

Today, the Bromacker is one of the most important reference sites for the early evolution of terrestrial vertebrates and the development of terrestrial ecosystems. The research provides fundamental insights into how biotic communities adapted to environmental and climatic changes and which processes led to the emergence of today’s biodiversity. This knowledge helps us to better understand the development of ecosystems over geological time scales and to place current changes within a long-term evolutionary context.

With its combination of world-class international research, state-of-the-art analytical methods and a consistently open scientific approach, the BROMACKER project has set new standards for interdisciplinary research and science communication. At the same time, it forms the basis for the long-term study of one of the world’s most significant fossil sites, whose scientific potential is far from being fully exploited.

History of the fossil site

The Bromacker fossil site is situated in the Tambach Formation between Tambach-Dietharz and Georgenthal in the Thuringian Forest. Fossil tracks were discovered there as early as the late 19th century. In 1974, the Gotha-based palaeontologist Thomas Martens found bone fossils for the first time, thereby laying the foundations for modern Bromacker research.

Between 1993 and 2010, international teams carried out regular excavations and discovered numerous exceptionally well-preserved skeletons of early terrestrial vertebrates. With the BROMACKER collaborative project, this research was resumed in 2020 and expanded to include geological, climatic and science communication aspects. Even after federal funding has ended, work at Bromacker will continue and new research findings will be published.