From a scientific point of view, the meteorite collection is one of the most valuable collections of the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, even if it suffered great losses in the 1956 fire, when half of the collection was destroyed and the surviving specimens were also partly damaged.
It contains 80 specimens from 12 localities of the Carpathian Basin (e.g. main masses of meteorites from the Gross-Divina, Lenarto, Minnichhof, Nagy-Borové, Ófehértó, Zsadány), and representative samples from several falls and finds from the other parts of the Earth (e.g. from the Cape of Good Hope, Utrecht and Virba). In addition, it includes the remains of 456 specimens of the Baumhauer collection and 214 specimens of the von Braun collections,. ,. Tectites and other impact materials we preserve which also belong to this section of the Department.
The first specimen (the main mass of the Lenarto iron) was donated in 1815. The development of the collection was the most significant between 1867 and 1918 ;since then the acquisitions have been minimal.
Staff
Senior Curator of Department of Mineralogy and Petrology: Gábor Papp
Curator responsible for the Collection of Meteorites: Melinda Jánosi
Number of specimens, type material
659 (as of 31.12.2013).
Availability
The collection has an itemised inventory.
Most of the data of the meteorite specimens can be found in our online catalogue. Data of the other specimens can be searched at our location in the inventory of the collection.
The collection is closed to the public. Scholarly visitors are received upon prior arrangement with the responsible curators.
Most collection materials are available for scientific examination for external researchers.
To discuss any of your requests, please contact our curator: janosim@nhmus.hu.
On-site examination
Terms and Conditions (PDF)
Research permit form (DOC)