It was probably more of a coincidence when, in August 1856, two Italian workers discovered bones and skeletal remains while extracting lime in the "Feldhofer Grotto." Initially disposed of carelessly, the owners of the quarry sought advice from the Elberfeld high school professor and naturalist Johann Carl Fuhlrott. He identified the finds as remains of an ice age human, but was ridiculed by scholars for doing so. Thus, research in Germany came to a halt for the time being.
Since 1991, the Neanderthal has finally been thoroughly investigated, and during excavations in 1997, 1999, and 2000, spectacular finds were made: In addition to 42,000 year-old stone tools of the Neanderthals, about 70 human bone fragments were discovered beneath the earth's surface. Three of these fragments, including a zygomatic bone, can be directly linked to the bone find from 1856.
Already in the 1930s, a small prehistoric museum was established not far from the discovery site, which documented the history of the Neanderthal with modest means. More than sixty years later, the current museum was built, which leads through four million years of human history with multimedia presentations, interactive stations, audio texts, films - and of course the elaborate reconstructions of the Neanderthals and their reality of life. Additionally, regular temporary exhibitions with a cultural historical focus take place.
Heck cattle, Wisenet, and Heck horses can be seen in the Ice Age wildlife enclosure. Founded in 1935 and approximately 23 hectares in size, the animals that partly served as game for early humans live here under largely natural conditions.
The site itself is staged in a 200-meter long timeline, and additionally, one can hike two kilometers along the Düssel on the art path "MenschenSpuren" and encounter works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Zadok Ben-David, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Antony Gormley, Volker Friedrich Marten, Nils-Udo, Giuseppe Penone, Jaume Plensa, Anne and Patrick Poirier, as well as Klaus Simon.
The youngsters also get their money's worth in the "Stone Age Workshop". In this educational platform of the museum, seminars, hands-on activities, workshops, children's birthdays, and holiday activities take place that bring children and teenagers closer to the history of the Earth in a practical way. This also includes sewing a leather pouch with animal sinews, painting with pigment colors from the Ice Age, or building a bow based on original findings.
A highlight is certainly the museum building completed in 1996 by architect Arno Brandlhuber. On an oval footprint, the wave-shaped concrete body rises above the Neandertal and, with its suspended facade made of Japanese glass, integrates into the surroundings. For this, two years after completion, it also received the NRW Architecture Award.
Inside, the windowless area made of exposed concrete and the spiraling ramp rising from the ground dominate as the main element of the building. Without stairs, this leads through the exhibition levels and ends at the café, which allows a view into the treetops of the green surroundings through two large window facades.
