We have done a lot for our future visitors!
The base for the railing in the excavations’ tend has been completed! In a very short time it will be finally finished. Also the kid’s excavation place is too progressing well and we will certainly not spare on concrete. We have already started with the construction of the layer of tuff in the outer edge (of the excavation area for children). As soon as it will be finished, it will follow the final and thinner layer of cement and then we’ll go on with the coating /a coat of paint.

Do the cracks in the rock want to tell us something?
Now that a very large part of the rock is exposed, we can take a closer look at the surface. 
First of all let’s look at the many cracks that run through the tuff. The volcanic ash erupted from the Vulcan solidified, but as the time passed it broke and cracked, due to the movements of the earth, and broke into several smaller pieces. Presumably, this process is subject to certain conditions, for example, it could be the difference of rock hardness.
Also the cracks differ: we can see long, straight cracks, but also circular crack structures. The trainee Marcus is now cataloguing the main cracks: a lot of work, but perhaps they could show us where are the fossils we’re looking for?

During that week we offered to the visitors a far unique insight into the excavation site.
From 11th June to 16th visitors could visit our excavation site and we also proposed some guided tours. Our children digging site was a success and many children were quite disappointed, when they were told that they had to wait to the following year to play and dig in it. We cheered them up giving them a unique souvenir: a small piece of the Petrified Forest!
During six days we had 300 visitors and among them some school classes too.

We’ve finally done it: today we uploaded our first video on YouTube.
Now you can see and experience how it looks like our digging site.
The video was produced by two trainees from the school, Ole and Matti.

On the digging site everything is fine: the first layer is also almost completely exposed. The preparations for the visiting week are running in full speed, there is really a lot to do: tables, small puzzles, questions to answer for children…
And then this: rain, rain, rain. Chemnitz is flooded, but here water is coming from above, from the street and the slope.
But now everything is just fine again, luckily, and we hope it stays like it.
We are forced to postpone for a week the Visiting Week.

Football championship, Chemnitz Marathon, bad weather… vs. Museum Night
This Saturday there was so much to do in Chemnitz and surroundings! Nevertheless, at the end of the day, when the museum excavation area closed the gate at Glockenstraße, we could count 852 visitors! What a success! The excavation team guided the visitors through the site, they answered questions and all the people were speechless in front of such beauty and treasures.
We thank the University students who cleaned the surface of the excavation area and that answered the visitors’ questions.
The Friends of the Natural History Museum assisted with food and drinks.
We can surely say that the weeks of preparation have been paid off: we were able to inspire Chemnitz!
Who couldn’t come, due to the many offers that the city presented, are very welcome to our Visiting Week from 11th to 16th June.

Get(ting) rid of the dirt.

We call it the “Rainy-Boots Era”, the ground is so muddy that walking is an exploit. The staff of the Tiefbau Böhm strengthened the ground surface and they placed a container as a shed. We are now making swiftly progresses and it is pure joy to be able to move around without having wet feet.

We built railings and we put on them the museum info boards for the first visitors that will come soon.

Sono state costruite delle ringhiere e vi sono state posizionate sopra delle tavole illustrative ed informative, in occasione dell’arrivo dei primi visitatori.

We’ll open our doors during the Museum Night and our excavation will officially begin!

And in June, there’s an event planned as a “trial opening day”.

Welcome back!

Snow on snow…

A leap in time: during autumn 2012 we were making our buildings here weatherproof and we had the reason served in late October: snow! Despite the weather and the cold, we decided to stay on the site; we will probably remember this winter for a long time, it was the longest and snowiest since so many years and, that is why we staid most of our time inside the cottage and the workshop.

Our tent had to be cleared of snow almost every day, but we had still time to deal with fossils.

We created the web site and a facebook page.

Finally, the snow is gone, but it was soon replaced by mud. For this reason, we have called some professional civil engineers…

Care to take a look through the window into the story of the Earth?

After days of preparation, it's finally time: The window into the story of the Earth opens for interested visitors. Nearly 500 enthusiast excavator found on this day the way to us to assist in our mud bath. Because of the ground surface has not yet been fixed and of course it has been raining no stop all the days before, all the beautiful shoes sank in deep mud.

We presented the previous findings, which are very promising and let us hope to make other exciting discoveries. Children and adults alike were also able to find genuine, petrified wood and also keep as a souvenir. We as excavation team are strongly committed to ensuring the project, explain the project and answer visitors' questions - which turned out not limited to happiness! Even the press was once again turned on the spot and had a nice video.
The day of the open window is considered to be a minor success, which motivates us to keep working steadily. The interest of visitors was much larger than expected.
For this, again, a heartfelt “thank you!”.

Children excavation, cottage, workshop and much more!

It is in the hot phase. Finally children excavation site, hut, workshop and drainage excavation and tends began to emerge.

And there is a fantastic new feature: We finally get electricity and water!

The information boards are finished and look great. Summer is hot and oppressive but if it rains, it doesn’t matter. The work requires a lot from us. Still, it's nice to see such magnificent things develop.

The work calls.

First we have to take care of the excavation tent. For a single event, it is quite suitable, but we will take a while to dig everything. Although last winter has been mild, he has nevertheless shown clearly what it is here to improve.

Here, the rock is still searched out for fossils. Our fence gets a banner. We get a rental toilet. The digging of the excavation site for children proceeds very good. A large hole is dug, while we already meet the complete basal layer sequence to the former forest soil. Fossils often come to the fore. We are motivated, but everything takes long.