The new collection at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research comprises 4,780 samples from more than 1,932 meteorites. As a research collection, it offers an extraordinary range of different meteorite classes and ranks among the most extensive and diverse in the world.
In recent months, the meteorite collection has been relocated to the MPS. It consists of two former research collections of the Max Planck Society, which scientists had established in the 1950s and 1960s at the Max Planck Institutes for Chemistry in Mainz and for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. When meteorite research ceased there in 2003 and 2005, respectively, the cosmic fragments were transferred on loan to the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt. Under the direction of Dr. Jutta Zipfel, the collection was scientifically and curatorially preserved, expanded, and made accessible for research there for more than 20 years.
Some special pieces will remain at the Natural History Museum in Frankfurt - ensuring that these fascinating celestial bodies will continue to be accessible to a broad audience. A selection of meteorites is also on display at MPIK.
Meteorite research at MPIK
At MPIK, Wolfgang Gentner and Josef Zähringer carried out research into meteorites in the late 1950s and 1960s. Their work focused on the analysis of noble gas isotopes for age determination and on the interaction with cosmic radiation and the solar wind. Using an electron microscope, numerous new minerals and inclusions of primordial matter were discovered, providing insights into cooling and differentiation processes. Meteorite research was continued by Hugo Fechtig and Till Kirsten.
Over the decades, the Institute had built up its own scientifically valuable collection of meteorites. Particular attention went to the Mundrabilla iron meteorite from the Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia. With a total mass of 24 tonnes, it ranks among the largest meteorite finds in the world. The smaller of the two largest masses (Mundrabilla II, about 5,5 tonnes) weighs just under 6 tonnes and was cut into several slices at the MPIK in 1974 using a special saw; these slices were handed over to Australia, the United Kingdom, the USA and the former USSR for research purposes and are now on display in various museums. Further slices remained at the MPIK for meteorite research.
News item by the MPI for Solar System Research about the meteorite collection (16 September 2026)
