Mineral Collection

The Mineralogical collection presents important minerals, ores as well as precious stones from all over the world. It explains their importance for the understanding of the system earth and for our life. Behind the Lothar Meyer Building multiple rooms present the following topics in more than 40 showcases: The diversity of minerals, ores, and their deposits, applied mineralogy, fluorescence, mineral properties, gemstones and precious stones, mineral substances and “mineral water”, and minerals of everyday life. The beginnings of the collection go back to the time of the Gmelin family of scholars, starting with Johann Georg Gmelin the Elder (1674–1728), and to the Naturalienkabinett at Hohentübingen Castle in 1802, which was initiated by donations. Rare meteorites – mainly from the collection of the industrialist and naturalist Karl von Reichenbach (1788–1869) – give the collection its great historical value and international reputation.

To the collection in the eMuseum (selection)