Most of you immediately have an imagination of awesome giant lizards when you hear the name „Saurian“. But how do we know so well how these creatures looked like? How does it come that animals, that got extinct millions of years ago and have never been seen alive by any human, can be found in almost every kids room?

The Friedenstein Gotha Foundation dedicates the exhibition „Saurians – Invention of Prehistoric Times“ to these questions. Visit the Ducal Museum in Gotha until April 24th 2022 and discover the last 200 years of research on saurians in fast motion. This research provided the basis for the scientific artwork of historic times.

Principally, the artwork on saurians, like images and models, connects science to the public. The artwork is the main source of information for most of us. However, as the knowledge on saurians increased and changed over time, the corresponding artwork changed as well – and thus, novel versions of primeval times were invented one after another.

Besides images and models, several original skeletons of saurians can be seen in the exhibition, among them the world-famous early tetrapods from the Bromacker locality between Georgenthal and Tambach-Dietharz in the Thuringian Forest. The research on these early tetrapods is at its very beginning. As history has already prooved, one can expect great things in the future even from such small saurians.

Published by courtesy of the Friedenstein Castle Foundation Gotha.

Ducal Museum Gotha

Schlossplatz 2

99867 Gotha

Here ist he link to the exhibitions website as well as to the dates for guided tours.

Opening hours:

Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Closed on Monday, open at public holidays.

Ticket prices:

5,00 € (discounted tickets 2,50 €)

Entrance for children and teenager up to 16 years is for free.