Messel Pit

Forty-eight million years ago a maar lake here was stratified, with no oxygen at the bottom and no scavengers, and animals that fell in were buried in fine mud that became oil shale. The preservation is exceptional: outlines of fur and feathers survive as bacterial films, along with gut contents, and in one case a mare with an unborn foal. The pit was quarried for shale, then designated as a landfill site in the 1970s; a long public campaign stopped the plan, and in 1995 it became Germany's first natural UNESCO World Heritage site. A visitor centre stands on the rim and the floor is entered on guided tours.

What you actually see

• The preservation - fossils with fur, feather outlines and stomach contents.
• The maar pit - a former oil shale quarry in a volcanic crater.
• The rescue story - a landfill plan stopped by public campaign.
• The visitor centre - displays on the rim above the excavation.

When to go

April to October; the pit floor is reached only on booked guided tours, which do not run daily. The visitor centre is open more widely.

Honest expectations

The best fossils are in the Senckenberg and other museums, not on site. The pit itself is a quarry hole. Floor access requires booking a tour.

Nearby

Darmstadt lies southwest; Frankfurt is north.