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Solnhofen
 
 
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Solnhofen is a municipality
Municipalities of Germany

Municipality are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those States of Germany which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level....
  in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen
Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen

Wei?enburg-Gunzenhausen is a Kreis in the west of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ansbach , Roth , Eichst?tt and Donau-Ries....
 in the region of Franconia
Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden-W?rttemberg called Heilbronn-Franken....
 in the Land of Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. It lies within the Altmühl
Altmühl

The Altm?hl is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Danube and is approximately 230 km in length.The source of the Altm?hl is located close to the city of Ansbach....
 valley.

The Sola Basilica dating from the Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
 period is one of the finest architectural monuments in Germany.

The local area is renowned in geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 for Solnhofen limestone
Solnhofen limestone

The Solnhofen limestone is a Jurassic lagerst?tte that preserves a rare assemblage of fossilized organisms, some of which, such as sea jellies, don't ordinarily fossilize at all....
. This is a very fine grained limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 from the Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 period which is renowned for its role as a Lagerstätte
Lagerstätte

File:Greenww.jpgA Lagerst?tte is a Sedimentation deposit that exhibits extraordinary Fossils richness or completeness. Palaeontologists distinguish two kinds....
 that preserves detailed fossil specimens.






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Solnhofen is a municipality
Municipalities of Germany

Municipality are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those States of Germany which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level....
  in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen
Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen

Wei?enburg-Gunzenhausen is a Kreis in the west of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ansbach , Roth , Eichst?tt and Donau-Ries....
 in the region of Franconia
Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden-W?rttemberg called Heilbronn-Franken....
 in the Land of Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. It lies within the Altmühl
Altmühl

The Altm?hl is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Danube and is approximately 230 km in length.The source of the Altm?hl is located close to the city of Ansbach....
 valley.

The Sola Basilica dating from the Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
 period is one of the finest architectural monuments in Germany.

The local area is renowned in geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 for Solnhofen limestone
Solnhofen limestone

The Solnhofen limestone is a Jurassic lagerst?tte that preserves a rare assemblage of fossilized organisms, some of which, such as sea jellies, don't ordinarily fossilize at all....
. This is a very fine grained limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 from the Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 period which is renowned for its role as a Lagerstätte
Lagerstätte

File:Greenww.jpgA Lagerst?tte is a Sedimentation deposit that exhibits extraordinary Fossils richness or completeness. Palaeontologists distinguish two kinds....
 that preserves detailed fossil specimens. Alois Senefelder
Alois Senefelder

Johann Alois Senefelder was an Austrian actor and playwright who invented the printing technique of lithography in 1796.Born Aloys Johann Nepomuk Franz Senefelder in Prague where his actor father was appearing on stage....
 used specially prepared blocks of the fine Solnhofen limestone for the process of lithography
Lithography

Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface. By contrast, in intaglio a plate is engraving, etching or mezzotint to make cavities to contain the printing ink, and in woodblock printing and letterpress ink is applied to the raised surfaces of letters or images....
 which he invented in 1798. The quarrying of this limestone for lithographic plates subsequently yielded spectacular finds, including Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx, sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel , is the earliest and most primitive bird known. The name is from the Ancient Greek archaios meaning 'ancient' and pteryx meaning 'feather' or 'wing'; ....
, commemorated in the bird's full name Archaeopteryx lithographica. All ten known specimens have come from the Solnhofen area.

As well as celebrating its role as the "hometown" of Archaeopteryx, Solnhofen also commemorates the work of Alois Senefelder with a statue of the inventor.

The Bürgermeister Müller Museum in Solnhofen displays the history of lithography, the story of the limestone quarries and the spectacular fossil finds from the area, including the most recently discovered Archaeopteryx specimen.

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