The Bromacker
Prehistoric sauriens, fossils, traces of life that have been hidden underground for 290 million years and have never been seen by humans before.
In 1887, an astonishing discovery was made in Gotha: the fossilized footprints of an unknown animal were found on a red sandstone slab.
Traces in stone
The slab, which came from a quarry near present-day Tambach-Dietharz, was immediately acquired for the ducal museum in Gotha and thus became part of the ducal collections. With the new curator of the natural history collections, Wilhelm Pabst, the history of the site now known as Bromacker began in 1892.
The quality and number of further finds of fossil impressions from the early Permian, 290 million years ago, enabled Pabst to publish numerous scientific papers. He thus became a co-founder of the field of palichnology. Some trackway slabs from the Bromacker were also sold to museums around the world to finance Pabst’s studies and the recovery of further slabs. In the 1960s, research into fossilized tracks picked up speed, but a chance discovery in 1974 was to change everything fundamentally once again.
The Bromacker is one of the most important and productive fossil deposits for terrestrial vertebrates (terrestrial tetrapods) from the early Permian period around 290 million years ago.
In 1974, geology student Thomas Martens made an interesting discovery at the Bromacker: he found a fossilized bone in the layers above the sandstones in which the tracks were found. A sensation! From 1978 onwards, Martens, now a research assistant at the Gotha Museum of Nature, carried out regular excavations and repeatedly unearthed new skeletal finds of early land vertebrates. In 1993, he gained the support of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, USA. From then on, paleontologists from the museum took part in the excavations every summer, and many of the prehistoric dinosaur skeletons were prepared and scientifically described in the USA. By 2010, a total of twelve species of amphibians and reptiles had been discovered. Many of these species are only known from the Bromacker.
A sensation! In 2007, scientists were able to match two species of vertebrates from the Bromacker to the corresponding tracks. This is unique in the world!
The Bromacker remains a rich source of finds
Although scientists have been working here for decades, new spectacular finds are constantly coming to light. The aim of today’s science is to reconstruct the ecosystem of 290 million years ago. To this end, an interdisciplinary team from two museums (Friedenstein Foundation Gotha and Museum für Naturkunde Berlin), the UNESCO Global Geopark Thuringia Inselsberg – Drei Gleichen and Friedrich Schiller University Jena has come together to not only apply the latest scientific methods, but also open up the research to the general public. Interested visitors can look over the researchers’ shoulders as they work and gain an understanding of the scientists’ work as well as the research results.
By studying the fossils and the biodiversity derived from them at Bromacker, the underlying ecosystem is being reconstructed. The exceptionally well-preserved trace and body fossils that occur together at Bromacker offer previously unimagined scientific possibilities. The fossils are scanned and digitally reconstructed. This makes it possible to reconstruct the movement patterns of prehistoric dinosaurs. By analyzing the communities of different animals and plants and their geographical distribution patterns, scientists can draw conclusions about food webs and the complexity and stability of the ecosystem.
The interdisciplinary team of scientists focuses on research into the biodiversity of the ecosystem, biomechanics, physiology, geology and climate. The individual pieces of the research puzzle complement each other perfectly and provide a picture of what the living Bromacker might have looked like 290 million years ago.
“Imagine there is a world almost 300 million years old on our doorstep, a completely different world to today, and yet we can see and understand it.”
Prof. Dr. Peter Frenzel, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
The BROMACKER lab
The BROMACKER lab is an interactive format in the exhibition hall at Friedenstein Castle. The exhibition presents fossils and current research findings and invites interested visitors of all ages to become researchers themselves and actively discover the region’s geological heritage.