GEO-Zentrum an der KTB (GEO Center at the KTB)
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The exhibition is based on the Federal Republic of Germany’s Continental Deep Drilling Programme (‘KTB’) research project. Consequently, it features the world’s tallest onshore drilling rig, standing at 83 metres – which visitors can climb up to the drilling platform – the drilling equipment from the rig, and all the drilling sample material (core samples, drill cuttings, and fluid samples) from the 9,101-metre-deep research borehole and the 4,000-metre-deep pilot borehole are all part of the collection. The history of the drilling project forms a logical part of the exhibition. Building on this, scientific drilling is explored as a method for gaining geoscientific insights and is complemented by a wide range of geoscientific topics. The themes of minerals from the Upper Palatinate – in particular the historically significant fluorite minerals – as well as volcanism and earthquakes, establish a regional connection, which is impressively underpinned by an earthquake simulator and a semi-electronic seismograph that is still in working order. The topics of plate tectonics and the Earth’s cycles are explored at hands-on stations, as is geoscientific research into climate change (keyword: a glimpse into the stony climate archive) and energy generation (covering both fossil fuels and the use of geothermal energy). The exhibition section ‘Mineral Resources – The Valuable Earth’ focuses on the use and sustainability of geogenic raw materials, using sand, graphite and rare earths as examples. The enormous importance of soils for terrestrial ecosystems and human nutrition is highlighted in the ‘Soil’ exhibition. Together with the Bavarian soil profile collection, which is presented as a display repository, it is housed in an architectural highlight designed by the architects Brückner & Brückner (Tirschenreuth) and constructed from rammed earth.
Last edited on 01.07.2026
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