Press event: Presentation of the Haag meteorite at the Natural History Museum Vienna
30. May 2025
On Tuesday, 10 June 2025, at 10:30 a.m., the Westermayr family will present the Haag meteorite to the NHM’s meteorite
collection.
Programme:
10:00 a.m.: get-together in Hall 6 “Planet Earth”
10:30 a.m.: Meteorite Hall (Hall 5); handover and brief guided tour
Welcome by Dr. Katrin Vohland, Director General/CEO
The Haag meteorite is handed over by the Westermayr family and placed in the “Austrian Meteorites” display case; scientific information provided by Dr. Andrea Patzer, curator of the meteorite collection, Mineralogy & Petrography Department, NHM Vienna
11:15 a.m. Visit of the electron microscopy laboratory with Dr. Wencke Wegner, operator for microanalysis, Central Research Laboratories, NHM Vienna
Prominent newcomer in the Austrian Meteorites display case
Having landed near Haag in Lower Austria on 24 October 2024, the Haag meteorite is one of the most important meteorite discoveries of recent decades in Austria. It entered the Earth’s atmosphere around 21:25 CEST as a bright fireball that was visible across wide parts of Austria and neighboring countries. The meteorite burst into several fragments that scattered over a narrow perimeter of about 9 km in length between Lembach and Bachlerboden (part of Haag).
A particularly remarkable fragment landed on the roof of a house in Schudutz near Haag, the home of the Westermayr family. At impact, the fragment broke into three parts which fell on the asphalted parking space behind the house. In German, meteorites that impact man-made structures are called Hammersteine (“hammer rocks”). In Austria, this was the first such event ever!
The great majority of meteorites officially registered with the international Meteoritical Society’s Nomenclature Committee (Meteoritical Bulletin) are so-called “finds”, meaning such rocks were identified as meteorites only after having been found by deliberate search or by accident. If the arrival of the meteorite was witnessed and it could then be recovered, one speaks of meteorite “falls”.
Scientific enquiries:
Dr. Andrea Patzer, curator of the meteorite collection, Mineraloy & Petrography Department, NHM Vienna
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2224-3452
andrea.patzer@nhm.at
Tel.: +43 (1) 52177 – 393
General enquiries:
Mag. Irina Kubadinow, Leitung Presseabteilung, Pressesprecherin, NHM Wien
https://www.nhm.at/irina_kubadinow
Tel.: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 410 | irina.kubadinow@nhm.at
Mag. Nikolett Kertész-Schenk, Bakk. BA MAS, Pressereferentin, NHM Wien
https://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/nikolett_kertesz
Tel.: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 626 | nikolett.kertesz@nhm.at
10:00 a.m.: get-together in Hall 6 “Planet Earth”
10:30 a.m.: Meteorite Hall (Hall 5); handover and brief guided tour
Welcome by Dr. Katrin Vohland, Director General/CEO
The Haag meteorite is handed over by the Westermayr family and placed in the “Austrian Meteorites” display case; scientific information provided by Dr. Andrea Patzer, curator of the meteorite collection, Mineralogy & Petrography Department, NHM Vienna
11:15 a.m. Visit of the electron microscopy laboratory with Dr. Wencke Wegner, operator for microanalysis, Central Research Laboratories, NHM Vienna
Prominent newcomer in the Austrian Meteorites display case
Having landed near Haag in Lower Austria on 24 October 2024, the Haag meteorite is one of the most important meteorite discoveries of recent decades in Austria. It entered the Earth’s atmosphere around 21:25 CEST as a bright fireball that was visible across wide parts of Austria and neighboring countries. The meteorite burst into several fragments that scattered over a narrow perimeter of about 9 km in length between Lembach and Bachlerboden (part of Haag).
A particularly remarkable fragment landed on the roof of a house in Schudutz near Haag, the home of the Westermayr family. At impact, the fragment broke into three parts which fell on the asphalted parking space behind the house. In German, meteorites that impact man-made structures are called Hammersteine (“hammer rocks”). In Austria, this was the first such event ever!
The great majority of meteorites officially registered with the international Meteoritical Society’s Nomenclature Committee (Meteoritical Bulletin) are so-called “finds”, meaning such rocks were identified as meteorites only after having been found by deliberate search or by accident. If the arrival of the meteorite was witnessed and it could then be recovered, one speaks of meteorite “falls”.
Scientific enquiries:
Dr. Andrea Patzer, curator of the meteorite collection, Mineraloy & Petrography Department, NHM Vienna
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2224-3452
andrea.patzer@nhm.at
Tel.: +43 (1) 52177 – 393
General enquiries:
Mag. Irina Kubadinow, Leitung Presseabteilung, Pressesprecherin, NHM Wien
https://www.nhm.at/irina_kubadinow
Tel.: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 410 | irina.kubadinow@nhm.at
Mag. Nikolett Kertész-Schenk, Bakk. BA MAS, Pressereferentin, NHM Wien
https://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/nikolett_kertesz
Tel.: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 626 | nikolett.kertesz@nhm.at
