Mineralogisches Museum der Philipps-Universität

Description

As the teaching and research collection of Philipps-Universität Marburg, the Mineralogical Museum presents an extensive collection of mineralogical and geological objects. With around 60,000 minerals, 55,000 rock samples, 15,000 rough gemstones and approximately 150 meteorites, the collection is among the most important of its kind in Hesse.

The museum was housed in the historic Kornhaus on Firmaneiplatz, a former bakehouse and grain store of the Deutschen Ordens dating from the early 16th century. Since 2019 the building — and thus a large part of the holdings — has no longer been accessible to the public. The exhibition „Minerale – Schätze der Erde“ has been shown since then in the Waldeckersaal of the Landgrafenschloss (until July 2026).

The holdings date back to the late 18th century; a major collecting initiative brought the foundation of the collection to Marburg. In the following decades the university took over supervision, cataloged and organized the objects, but repeatedly had to contend with financial shortfalls and spatial constraints. In the 19th century purchases and donations increased the holdings; lack of space occasionally led to the removal of duplicates and to a subdivision of the collection areas. At the beginning of the 20th century petrographic holdings were spatially reorganized and a substantial meteorite was added to the collection. Between the world wars and in the postwar period the collection received funding and continued to grow. In the 1960s and 1970s the grain store was extensively renovated and opened to the public; in the following years the exhibition space and international cooperation expanded.

Today the museum primarily serves teaching and research purposes. A friends' association supports the preservation, presentation and expansion of the collection through renovations, purchases of equipment, acquisition of exhibits, and the organization of guided tours and excursions.