Launch of the pilot project "When Chemnitz was on the equator"
Invitation to the press conference on 4 April, 11 a.m., Museum für Naturkunde, TIETZ
On Monday, 4 April at 11 a.m., the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz will present the project "When Chemnitz was on the equator: the start of a digital journey into prehistoric times", which is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Representatives of the media are invited to the press conference at the Museum of Natural History, 1st floor in the TIETZ.
The pilot project at the Museum of Natural History aims to make it possible to experience the "Chemnitz Petrified Forest" in 3D. Scientific information and image data on the creatures in the Chemnitz fossil deposit will be collated and the first static 3D models developed. A selection of the fossilised plants and animals will be animated as animated models with maximum anatomical precision.
Using innovative technological approaches, these models will be integrated into a yet-to-be-developed virtual Permian landscape that illustrates the Chemnitz region 291 million years ago. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the Permian period on screen in a 3D room or using 3D glasses and explore the equatorial subtropical jungle, which was preserved for posterity by a catastrophic volcanic eruption, as a living ecosystem. In the medium term, the interactive models and walk-in environments are to be integrated into a new permanent exhibition.
136,700 euros from the Federal Cultural Foundation's "dive in" programme and 16,000 euros from the budget of the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz are available for the project. Local and regional co-operation partners in particular are to benefit from the funds and can be involved in the project through tenders and contracts. The funding has made it possible to recruit a research assistant for the realisation of the project.
The project is being developed as part of the "dive in. Programme for Digital Interactions" of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) as part of the Neustart Kultur programme. This programme was launched in response to the months-long closure of venues and museums and supports cultural institutions across Germany with innovative digital dialogue and exchange formats. The Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz is using this opportunity to make one of the greatest treasures of the Capital of Culture 2025 - the Petrified Forest - with its prehistoric plants and animals a digital experience.
Background:
The "Petrified Forest of Chemnitz" is a globally unique fossil deposit from the Permian period. As a result of a volcanic eruption 291 million years ago, an entire ecosystem was preserved in situ for eternity - similar to ancient Pompeii. The Chemnitz fossil deposit, the Petrified Forest, offers an insight into an exotic primeval forest with conifers, tree ferns, horsetails and other woody plants, which was inhabited by arachnids, scorpions, centipedes several metres long, various amphibians and lizard-like, tree-climbing prehistoric dinosaurs.