Museums show treasures. The public admires these and (hopefully) leaves with great respect for the collections. Many times it is not transported how much work, time and effort is behind an exponate.
The Jura-Museum in Eichstätt is one of five paleontological museums in the outcrop region of the Solnhofen Platy Limestone and dedicated to its fossils, including the Eichstätt specimen of Archaeopteryx and the Juravenator. The Museum is within walking distance to the visitor’s quarry at the Blumenberg, a fossil locality of world fame because the Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx was found there. In the quarry, everybody can dig fossils legally. A similar approach exists in the GeoZentrum Solnhofen. Field trips frequently go to the site near Painten where the fossils on display in a nearby private museum and entertainment park are exposed. It is the combination of field trips to the fossil sites, maybe including digs, and museum pieces which greatly rises the respect for an interest into the fossils on display. This experience is frequently made in the Jura-Museum and increasingly implemented in lectures and field trips. At the same time, earth-science topics and geoscience disciplines can be addressed in multiple ways and like that generate a much better understanding of geosciences. This talk shows inhowfar transfer of knowledge about Archaeopteryx and the Solnhofen Platy limestones in the Jura-Museum is accomplished by the field experiences that can be offered there.