GeoMuseum der Universität

At the centre of geoscience teaching in the Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät of the Universität zu Köln is the GeoMuseum. It is affiliated with the lecture-hall wing of the Geowissenschaftlichen Institute at Zülpicher Str. 49 b and presents a selection from the university's geoscientific collections.

The holdings trace back to two formerly separate institutions: the Museum für Naturkunde, established in 1881, was initially housed in the Severinstorburg and moved to the Stapelhaus in 1902, where it remained until 1945. In parallel, the Mineralogisch-Geologische Sammlung was created in 1920 and from 1938 was accommodated in the Geologisch-Mineralogischen Institut in the so-called „Rundbau“ at Südbahnhof. Large parts of both collections were destroyed during the Second World War; in the years that followed they were rebuilt by the institute leaderships in the fields of mineralogy and geology. In 1962 rescued minerals and rocks from the destroyed Stapelhaus were taken over as a loan from the Stadt Köln; fossils were divided between the Geologischen Institut and the Zoologischen Institut. After completion of the new building of the Institut für Mineralogie und Geologie-Paläontologie in 1967, both collections were brought together there. Later, the space requirements for the newly established GeoBibliothek necessitated a reorganization; the most important earth-history exhibits were combined with the mineralogical holdings and from the year 2000 presented under the name GeoMuseum.

The collection comprises around 50,000 objects, of which only a small part is displayed in a single hall. The exhibition concentrates on geological-mineralogical focal points such as meteorites and tektites, minerals of the Siegerländer mining region, minerals from Russia, various forms of quartz, the diversity of calcite forms, zeolites, precious and gem stones, as well as synthetic crystals. Along the left-hand wall from the entrance there are display cases presenting Earth history, ranging from the formation of the solar system to the present, and containing fossils. In the foyer there is a large showcase with corals and other reef-building organisms. At the entrance to the GeoBibliothek visitors can see a slice of an approximately 1,400-year-old sequoia from the USA as well as the stump of a fossil, Miocene sequoia from the Braunkohleabbau Berrenrath West bei Frechen.

In the „Typmineral-Katalog Deutschland“, overseen by the Mineralogischen Museum der Universität Hamburg, the GeoMuseum is registered as the depository for the type material of the minerals Brownmillerit, Jasmundit and Mayenit. In the type-mineral catalogue of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) the museum also appears under the abbreviation MMUKö-Köln (for Jasmundit additionally MPI-Köln) as a depository for Chlormayenit.