Otto Klages

Fossil sea lilies

Otto Klages (born May 4, 1903 , † December 17, 1982 in Königslutter am Elm ) was a German fossil collector.

Klages was a full-time self-employed merchant in Königslutter am Elm , which is known for its fossils in the Elm limestone of the shell limestone (for example oriel or trochitic limestone ), especially for sea lilies . He brought together one of the most extensive geological-paleontological private collections with over 20,000 specimens (fossils, minerals, rocks, debris), mainly from his immediate surroundings, the Harz foreland and the Harz Mountains (but he also collected a lot abroad and exchanged with collectors all over the world , for which his sea lilies Encrinus liliiformis were coveted collectibles). He donated the collection to the city of Königslutter, which created a museum for the collection (Otto Klages Collection, Sack 1). Some of his finds are also in the Königslutter Geopark Information Center.

He published a lot in the journal Der Aufschluss (45 articles between 1951 and 1966) and was himself active in the Association of Friends of Mineralogy and Geology (VFMG), the editors of the journal. From 1959 to 1963 he was on the board and in 1965 he became an honorary member.

He also donated rock collections to schools for educational purposes, museums and universities. Parts of his collection are in the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover. As early as 1972 he donated 2000 selected copies to the Königslutter City Library.

literature

Heinz Röhr, In memory of the petrefact collector Otto Klages. In: Braunschweigische Heimat, Volume 69, 1983, SS 27–28.
Heinz Beyer, obituary in Der Aufschluss, Volume 34, 1983, p. 100

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Klages, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German fossil collector
DATE OF BIRTH	May 4, 1903
DATE OF DEATH	17th December 1982
Place of death	Königslutter am Elm