Solnhofen Limestone fossils come from the quarries in the valley of the Altmuehl River in southern Franken in Bavaria, Germany. The quarries there exist probably since roman times. They became more productive with the use of the plane Limestone slabs for printing. The recent use is more of a decorative limestone slab for gardens.
There are a few seperated areas in the valley. The first area concentrates with various quarries around Solnhofen, the town that gave the name to the Solnhofen Limestone. It includes all the Solnhofen quarries, the Langenaltheim quarries, the Apfelthal quarries and stretches to Muehlheim and Moernsheim. These villages are just under 1km or two for Muehlheim and Moernsheim away from Solnhofen.
The second concentration of mining is around the Town of Eichstaett, about ten kilometers away. Here is the Blumenberg Quarry located , Wintershof And the Berger Quarries. Others are spread to the east like Zandt and Hienheim up to 40 km away. The town of Treuchtlingen west of Solnhofen produces only the Treuchtlinger Marble.
In all these Quarries the miners and collectors find the famous Solnhofen Limestone Fossils. They all belong to the so called White Jurassic or Malm. It is the final stage of the Jurassic Peripod before the Cretaceous.
In the east starting with the Treuchtlinger Marble we find the lowest layers. They are overlayed by a couple more layers, that are not mined. At the town of Solnhofen the Eichstaett Formation follows. The Eichstaett Formation is about 144 million years old. The Eichstaett Formation is overlayed by the Moernsheim Formation a kilometer more east. The Moernsheim Formation is directly followed by the Cretaceous at the Muehlheim Schaudiberg quarry. The Moernsheim Formation is the therefore the latest Jurassic and about two million years younger then the Eichstaett Formation dating to 142 million years.
At the west about 10 km away aound the town of Eichstaett we find the Eichstaett Formation, the only one mined here.
Centuries of mining have produced tonnes of fossils. It gives the impression, that there are a lot of them beeing found all the time. It is more the opposite. Solnhofen Limestone Fossils are rare.
Interesting for Hobby Palaeontologists is, that can dig here in at least three quarries. One is located in Solnhofen, one in Muehlheim (Schaudiberg), and one at Eichstaett (Blumenberg).
