Fossil museum in Solnhofen's town hall with original specimens of the early bird Archaeopteryx, Jurassic habitats in the “PaläoZoo,” and a lithography section.
Special exhibition
Annual exhibition 2026: lithographs by Mario Derra on the fossils of the Solnhofen limestone meet original fossils from the private collection of Peter and Marianne Werth. Expected to run until the end of the 2026 season.
The museum was founded on the collection of Friedrich Müller, a fossil collector and at one time mayor of Solnhofen. Rather than selling his finds from the Solnhofen limestone, he expanded his collection over decades and was already showing it to the public in the 1950s. In 1968 the municipality founded a museum named after him, which opened in 1970 in the town hall on Bahnhofstraße; it was considerably enlarged in 1986.
Since 1998 the museum has worked closely with the scientific community. Alongside the municipality's own main collection, it displays holdings of the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology in Munich, including the feathered predatory dinosaur Sciurumimus from Painten. There are also project-based collections, Müller's butterflies, and art holdings with numerous original lithographs.
The first floor is designed as the “PaläoZoo”: color-coded rooms present the habitats of the roughly 150-million-year-old Solnhofen archipelago, from the open sea through reefs and lagoons to the islands. The tour ends in the so-called Ikonenraum (icon room) with original specimens of Archaeopteryx and other bird-like dinosaurs. Upstairs, the section “Solnhofen – die Welt in Stein” (Solnhofen – the world in stone) covers quarrying, stone working, and lithography, the printing technique invented by Alois Senefelder.
As of January 1, 2026, the municipality renamed the museum “Archaeopteryxwelten Solnhofen” to put the town's most famous find center stage. A dedicated display continues to commemorate the founder, Friedrich Müller.
| Adults | €6 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €5People with severe disabilities, university students, retirees |
| Children & teens | €4.50Children's price €4.50; age limits not specified. |
| Seniors | €5Retiree discount |
| Visitors with disabilities | €5Reduced price for people with severe disabilities; rules for companions not specified. |
| Students & apprentices | €5 |
| Groups | €5.50 per personAdults in a group €5.50, children €4, concessions €4.50; minimum group size not specified. |
| Families | €14Family ticket with children |
| Combination ticket museum + hobby quarry (adults) | €10Group €9 |
| Combination ticket museum + hobby quarry (children) | €7Group €6 |
| Combination ticket museum + hobby quarry (reduced) | €8People with severe disabilities/university students/retirees; group €7.50 |
| Combination ticket museum + hobby quarry (family) | €23 |
| Wednesday museum guided tour (adults) | €8.50Reduced €7.50, children €6; April 1 – October 31, registration by 17:00 the day before |
| Wednesday quarry tour with fossil hunting (adults) | €8.50Reduced €7.50, children €5 |
Group guided tours €50 per group plus admission (English/Italian €60).
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Great for kids & families
| Family ticket | €14 · Family ticket with children |
|---|
Children's birthday parties with a fossil tour (about 2 hours), geo-excursions for kindergarten groups and school classes; in the hobby quarry, families can search for fossils themselves (combined ticket with the museum). Exhibition rooms are air-conditioned.
Bahnhof Solnhofen · 100 m
Solnhofen train station (about 100 m away), hourly connections from Nuremberg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, and Munich, among others.
Free parking
Free parking directly in front of the museum.
The B2 and B13 federal highways are a few kilometers away.
Get directionsFree parking directly in front of the museum. Hobby quarry on the Hummelberg for fossil hunting (tool rental on site); children's birthday parties in the museum and quarry. Air-conditioned exhibition rooms.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| Audio guide | yes |
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Guided tours (approx. 1 hr) for groups via the municipality's booking form; open Wednesday tours April 1 – October 31 at 10:00 (museum) and 13:30 (quarry with fossil hunting and a look at the working quarry), registration by 17:00 the day before at 09145 832030. Geo-excursions for school classes, lithography demonstrations. Audio guide “Paläozoo” according to Naturpark Altmühltal; languages not specified. |
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