Eduard Opitsch
Eduard Opitsch (born February 1, 1900 in Langenaltheim , † February 19, 1991 in Pappenheim ) was a German quarry owner , in whose quarry a specimen of Archeopteryx was discovered in 1956 .
The location of the valuable and rare fossil was a quarry on the Langenaltheimer Haardt near Solnhofen. At first the primeval bird, from which the head was missing, was not recognized as such. In 1959 underwent Opitsch by chance, what a special Fossil he had and put it first to the museum on the Maxberg today Fossil and Lithography Museum Gunzenhausen as a loan available; from this the naming as a Maxberger specimen results .
In 1974 he took the fossil back after disagreements with the museum management, no longer made it publicly available and even refused any further scientific investigation.
When he died in 1991 ( suicide ), the fossil was missing from his estate, but its whereabouts could not be clarified. Investigations by the public prosecutor's office were also unsuccessful. In the area of the Solnhof quarry area, the assumption was made that Opitsch might have destroyed the Archeopteryx so that it would not fall into the hands of his heirs.
Web links
- Martin Sauter: Archeopteryx - The finds. In: The Solnhofen limestone and its fossils. 2005, accessed February 25, 2011 .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Opitsch, Eduard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German quarry owner and fossil collector |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1900 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Langenaltheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | 19th February 1991 |
| Place of death | Pappenheim |