The Muschelkalk Museum Hagdorn in the town of Ingelfingen holds a collection of more than 25,000 specimens and series. It includes a series of fossils, minerals, and rock samples. Countless originals are described and illustrated in scientific literature including several types. The focus is on Middle Triassic fossils from Central Europe (Muschelkalk and Lower Keuper invertebrates and vertebrates, esp. Muschelkalk echinoderms), and Triassic crinoids from all over the world. Smaller collection parts comprising sea urchins and sea lilies from other periods of earth history complete the collection. The traditionally labeled specimens are well documented and are available for scientific research. Requests should be addressed to the museum director Dr Hans Hagdorn. The museum acronym is MHI (Muschelkalk Museum Hagdorn Ingelfingen). Published specimens are catalogued with this acronym and consecutively numbered. A printed catalogue or an electronic database of type and referenced specimens does not exist but would be desirable.
At a rough estimate, the collection presently comprises the following items:
| stromatolite and onkolite | 45 specimens |
| dasycladales | 20 specimens |
| Muschelkalk and Lower Keuper macroplants | 300 specimens |
| silicified wood from Middle Keuper | 50 specimens |
| Porifera | 30 specimens |
| Anthozoa | 150 specimens |
| Hydrozoa | 35 specimens |
| Microconchida | 60 specimens |
| Bryozoa | 20 specimens |
| Brachiopoda | 2,400 specimens and series |
| Arthropoda | |
| Ostracoda and Spinicaudata | 50 samples |
| Hexapoda | 3 specimens |
| Decapoda | 130 specimens |
| Mollusca | |
| Scaphopoda | 40 specimens |
| Gastropoda | 230 specimens and series |
| Bivalvia | 3600 specimens and series |
| Cephalopoda | 5,000 specimens and series |
| Echinodermata | |
| Crinoidea | 2,350 specimens and series |
| Echinoidea | 200 |
| Holothuroidea | 5 specimens |
| Ophiuroidea | 330 specimens and series |
| Asteroidea | 70 specimens |
| Bed-by-bed collected Muschelkalk, Keuper, and Upper Buntsandstein fauna from specific localities | 2,800 specimens |
| Muschelkalk and Lower Keuper vertebrates: Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygia, Sarcopterygia | 770 specimens and series |
| Temnospondyla | 1,000 specimens, among them 30 skulls |
| Reptilia | 1,250 specimens, among them 8 skulls |
| vertebrate tracks and invertebrate traces | 300 Specimens |
| Bone bed samples | 100 |
| Mineral and rock samples | 460 specimens |
| Special collections of Middle Triassic fossils in Muschelkalk facies from South France, Spain, Hungary, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia | 350 specimens and series |
| Special collections of Tethyan, Boreal, and Pacific Triassic from the Alps, Hungary, Greece, Bosnia, Timor, South China, Russia, North America | 2,500 specimens |
| Special collection of sea urchins | 1,650 specimens |
| Other than Triassic crinoids | 350 specimens and series |
| Cretaceous echinoderms and other invertebrate fossils from the Isle of Mön | 300 specimens |
| mammoth tusk | 1 |
The museum holds a well-sorted geological and palaeontological library. It includes a series of important regional and international journals, special reprints, maps, and books. Furthermore there is an extensive archive of slides, black-and-white photos and negatives, and electronic images of fossils and outcrops. Items from the library and archive are for reference only.
The invertebrate fossils are stored in discharged historical cabinets according to the biological systematics. Closed find deposits are kept separately and locality-based.
Another set of cabinets contains more than 5,000 ceratites and nautilids most of which were collected bed-by-bed.
The fragile vertebrate fossils are safely stored in discharged pharmacist´s cabinets.
Example of a drawer containing vertebrate remains.
Example of a drawer containing crinoid remains.
Examples of earlier and current labels.
Larger items are directly lettered in Indian ink.
Storage rack containing the scientific journal series.
The slide and photo archive contains pictures of outcrops, many of which are no longer existent.