The exhibition on the natural history of the region takes visitors back over 250 million years into the past. The focus is on the Triassic period with its impressive flora and fauna: after a climate catastrophe and the largest mass extinction known to date, many new species developed. Fossil finds bear witness to the largest amphibians in the history of the earth, early marine reptiles and the first dinosaurs. An interactive media room brings them to life.
Salt, Sand, Dinosaurs makes the diverse geology of the Triassic understandable and tells of the climate and landscapes of this enormous time span of 51 million years. Depending on the distance from the sea coast at the time, huge marshlands, hostile salt deserts, subtropical seas full of life or dead lagoons were formed.
At the same time, the exhibition shows how the legacy of the Triassic still shapes life and the landscape around Heilbronn today. The local salt deposits, which are still mined today, were formed during this period. Triassic rocks make the Heilbronn region particularly productive and give the local wines their special flavor.