Messel Pit

The Messel Pit is a fossil preservation site in , central , dated to the Eocene epoch. The fossil-bearing rock unit is a geologic formation named the Messel Formation; its geographic range is restricted to the Messel pit.
grube-messel.de
+49 6159 71759 0
Wikipedia
Photo: Wilson44691, Public domain.
  • Opening hours:
    November 16th—March 14th: Wednesday—Sunday and public holidays 10:00 AM—5:00 PM
    March 15th—November 15th: 10:00 AM—5:00 PM
    December 24th, December 25th, December 26th, December 31st, and January 1st: closed
  • Email: service@grube-messel.de
  • Type: Protected area
  • Description: disused quarry near the village of Messel, paleontological site
  • Also known as: “Messel pit”, “UNESCO Weltnaturerbe Grube Messel”, and “UNESCO World Heritage Messel Pit Fossil Site”
  • Address: Roßdörfer Straße 108, Messel, 64409

Places of Interest Nearby

Highlights include Bahnhof Messel and Fossilien- und Heimatmuseum Messel.

Railway station
Photo: ArnoNymos, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a railway station, which is situated 1 km west of Messel Pit.

Museum
Photo: Dysmachus, CC BY-SA 2.5.
is situated 2½ km northwest of Messel Pit.

Historic house
Photo: Commander-pirx, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a historic house, which is situated 2½ km northwest of Messel Pit.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include Roßdorf and Bulau.

Photo: Thiotrix, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a municipality in the district of , in , Germany. It has a population of 12,619. It is situated 8 km east of .

Village
Photo: Kleevayne, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a village, which is situated 7 km north of Messel Pit.

Messel Pit

Latitude
49.91873° or 49° 55′ 7″ north
Longitude
8.75913° or 8° 45′ 33″ east
Operator
Welterbe Grube Messel gGmbH
Open location code
8FXCWQ95+FM
Open­Street­Map ID
way 5020797
Open­Street­Map feature
tourism=­attraction
Wiki­data ID
Q639217
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Messel Pit from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Arabic to Waray—“Messel Pit” goes by many names.
  • Arabic: “حفرة ميسيل”
  • Azerbaijani: “Messel karxanası”
  • Basque: “Messelgo aztarnategia”
  • Catalan: “Esquists de Messel”
  • Catalan: “jaciment de Messel”
  • Catalan: “Jaciment de Messel”
  • Chinese: “梅塞尔坑”
  • Chinese: “麥塞爾化石坑世界自然遺產”
  • Chinese: “麦塞尔化石坑世界自然遗产”
  • Croatian: “Messel”
  • Czech: “Messelský důl”
  • Danish: “Messelgruben”
  • Dutch: “Groeve Messel”
  • Dutch: “Messel”
  • Esperanto: “Messel”
  • Finnish: “Messelin kaivos”
  • French: “site fossilifère de Messel”
  • French: “Site fossilifère de Messel”
  • Galician: “Pozo de Messel”
  • Georgian: “მესელის ორმოები”
  • German: “Grube Messel”
  • Greek: “Πεδίο Απολιθωμάτων Μέσσελ”
  • Hebrew: “בור מסל”
  • Hindi: “मेस्सेल पिट”
  • Indonesian: “Lubang Messel”
  • Italian: “Grube Messel”
  • Italian: “Pozzo di Messel”
  • Japanese: “メッセル採掘場”
  • Latin: “Cavea Messelensis”
  • Lithuanian: “Meselio fosilijų radimvietė”
  • Macedonian: “Меселска јама”
  • Maltese: “Foss ta‘ Messel”
  • Maltese: “Foss ta’ Messel”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Messelgruven”
  • Norwegian: “Messelgruven”
  • Persian: “گودال میسل”
  • Polish: “Grube Messel”
  • Polish: “Kopalnia Messel”
  • Polish: “Kopalnia skamielin w Messel”
  • Portuguese: “Messel”
  • Portuguese: “Sítio fossilífero de Messel”
  • Romanian: “Messel”
  • Russian: “карьер Мессель”
  • Russian: “Карьер Мессель”
  • Slovak: “Nálezisko Messel”
  • Spanish: “sitio fosilífero de Messel”
  • Spanish: “Sitio fosilífero de Messel”
  • Spanish: “yacimiento paleontológico de Messel”
  • Swedish: “Messels gruva”
  • Turkish: “Messel Çukuru”
  • Ukrainian: “Мессельський кар’єр”
  • Vietnamese: “Di chỉ hóa thạch Messel Pit”
  • Vietnamese: “Hố Messel”
  • Volapük: “Messel”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Messel”

Notable Places Nearby

Highlights include Weltnaturerbe Grube Messel and Grube Messel Besucherinformationszentrum.

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