Regional collection Greece

The regional collection from Greece incorporates some 12,000 fossils, rock samples and examples of facies from Greece and the surrounding Mediterranean region.

The collection represents a large proportion of the life's work of Basel geologist Carl Renz, who founded modern geology in Greece.

After the scientist's death, the extensive and high-quality collection of Permian to Neogene rock from the Greek mainland as well as the Ionian and Aegean islands lay for many years in the private garage of his widow Helene Renz. During the 1960s, she donated the collection to the Natural History Museum Basel.

The collection is especially precious since it allowed findings to be documented that were then and still are now extremely difficult to find.