Mineralientage 2019: It was a blast!
by Diana Fattori & Nando Musmarra
For half a century, every year during the last weekend in October, mineral, fossil and jewellery lovers travel to Munich, Germany, where is held one of the two biggest European shows (the other is in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France, in June). The show runs for three days, hosting 1000 exhibitors, and it is visited by more than 40,000 people.
Very important European museums and private collectors put on exhibit some of the best mineral and fossil specimens ever seen. I especially loved the Jakob Siber collection from Aathal, Switzerland. Real dinosaurs -like the rare baby sauropod Tony, one of the best preserved specimen of a young long-necked dinosaur- were displayed, plus an unique collection of colorful agates and eye-catching gold nuggets. Mr. Siber started his collection as kid, a nice photo showed him out a fence of a quarry looking for rocks, sitting under a sign says "no collection allowed". During the years he built an incredible collection, travelling the world looking for fossils, minerals, gold nuggets and adventure.
Like the Denver Show, also in Munich fossil dealers are concentrated in one big area, so if you are like me and not interested in jewellery and new age stuff, you don’t need to waste your time walking around looking for your favourite items. Because Germany is in the middle of Europe, the show hosts many dealers from eastern and western European Countries that usually don’t attend any of the big American shows. Amber dealers are very common, and prices are very reasonable. Also if the show is very big, many dealers are amateurs and not professional, so they often offer uncommon fossils that rarely hit the big market. There are many Brazilian dealers offering crystals and amethyst geodes of all shapes and sizes, Chinese sellers showing all the fluorite hues- from pink to light blue, Madagascar traders selling colorful hearths and spheres made with rare minerals.
During the last show, a lot of unusual marine fossil creatures swam in the Munich Merchandise Mart; they came from different locations and geologic periods: from the German Holzmaden Formation (Lower Jurassic), the Solnhofen Limestone (Upper Jurassic), unknown locations from Morocco (Jurassic), from Madagascar (Cretaceous). There were at least ten enormous fishes from different dealers, a very expensive fossils rarely offered for sale!).
Fossil fishes are not common, but are a lucky find. Unlike shells and shark teeth, fishes have little ossification, so decompositions happens very fast: dead organism fall on the sea floor and it usually leave no trace. In addition, decomposition produces carbonic gas and sulphuric hydrogen inside the animal’s body, so the animal rises up to the surface and decomposes faster. In every fossil deposit scientists recognize one common cause: the absence of oxygen, recognizable by bitumen or sulphuric iron, plus the presence of fine sediments and quiet water. All those conditions usually happen in closed areas, like tropical lakes and lagoons.
The Munich show presented many attractions also for the younger public: children are encouraged to look for Cretaceous marine fossils- like shark teeth- in a reconstructed sand pit, sifting for gold and splitting Eocene shale fresh arrived from Wyoming,Usa, looking for fossil fishes. Every finder is identified with the help of the supervisors. Maybe from the young collectors a paleontologist will born! And if you are hungry or thirsty there is a food court offering tasty local food and the super good Bavarian beer fresh from the barrel.
Your beloved authors at work :)
UPDATE FALL 2021
If any of you are planning a trip to Germany, mark your calendar: in 2021 the Munich show will be held from October 22th to 24th. Right now the special exhibits subjects are still a secret, but as every year, I bet they will be worth the trip!
