MAMMUTHEUM

Description

In upper Bavarian Siegsdorf, the Mammut-Museum Siegsdorf offers insights into the geology, paleontology and the world of the Ice Ages. It is aimed at visitors who want to understand the landscape development and the geological structure of southeast Bavaria and adjacent Austrian regions.

The museum is located in the municipality of Siegsdorf in the district of Traunstein and deals primarily with the last 250 million years (Triassic to Quaternary/Stone Age). It receives institutional support from the State Office for Non-State Museums in Bavaria at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation and is listed in the Central Register of Biological Research Collections in Germany. It is one of the third-largest natural history museums in Bavaria and records around 50,000 visitors annually.

The impetus for establishing the museum was the discovery of a mammoth skeleton near Siegsdorf in 1975. After its recovery in the mid-1980s, further Ice Age finds such as remains of cave lions, cave bears and woolly rhinoceroses were recovered. The subsequent public presentation and growing interest led to plans for a specialised museum in the late 1980s; following concept and planning phases and the start of construction in 1993, the museum opened in 1995.

The collection and exhibition have been expanded since then: in 2003 a walk-through "bear cave" was added to the Ice Age displays; outdoor educational offerings under the name "SteinZeit Siegsdorf" were established in 2004 in the Dießelbachtal and were moved to the museum in 2010 as the "SteinZeitGarten". In its anniversary year 2013 the millionth visitor was recorded; in 2025 a programme of events accompanied the 30th anniversary.

The exhibitions are spread over three levels. The basement explains Alpine formation and tectonics using models, profiles and a "rock wall", displays the mineral resources of southeast Bavaria and offers a film overview of Siegsdorf's geology. On the ground floor, reef-like designs guide visitors through four former seas of the region; fossils, find sites such as the Emanuelflöz at Kressenberg and the Adelholzener layers, as well as preparation techniques are presented. The upper floor is devoted to the Ice Age: the mammoth (a cast and original bones in situ), an almost complete cave lion skeleton, cave bear finds in a replica and a large-scale model of the formation of the Chiemsee illustrate glaciation and Stone Age people, including flintworking.

The forecourt features a 30-metre timeline through 4.6 billion years of Earth's history leading to the entrance column, which marks the 250 million years treated in the museum. A ball mill demonstrates the erosive power of water and the weathering of rock.

Museum education and advisory services complement the permanent exhibition; the museum provides comparative materials, transfers larger finds mainly to state collections and processes identification enquiries concerning bones, fossils and stones.