Situated in the small town of Schiffweiler
Das Praehistorium gives a nod to the former coal-mining economy of the area with its display on the Carboniferous period
It is the first walk-through diorama of the museum and features all the plants and animals
of the ecosystem that would compress into coal over 300 million years ago
The scope of Das Praehistorium covers an extreme expanse of time: from primeval to modern
The museum traces the flow of evolution quite broadly from the beginning of life all the way through to the modern era
A 3D film on evolution started our tour through the past
Then there was a quick walk through four billion years of boring Precambrian evolution
The museum really does the best they can making bacteria interesting
we moved into the first of many full-immersion geologic time periods
The Permian was especially dramatic as we stood around in a recreated slot canyon waiting with a life-sized Dimetrodon as thunder boomed
Even my three-year-old nephew liked that one
Each geologic period had an introduction space with informative displays and signboards to prepare us for entering the re-created space
but a QR-coded audio guide provides translations
we were not able to get it working on my husband’s phone
so be sure to connect to the museum’s Wi-Fi when getting tickets and test out the system
There are plenty of employees along the way who can help
After wandering through the tropical Triassic
seeing the wetlands of the Jurassic and experiencing the perpetual dark cold of the southern Cretaceous
we watched a short 4D movie in German that detailed the extinction of the dinosaurs
so we popped back out into the modern entry hall
brats and pommes at the on-site restaurant under the massive Argentinosaurus skeleton that dominates the space
The second half of the museum took an interesting turn
Instead of continuing the prehistoric trajectory
deposited at the International Space Station
the experiential rooms proceeded back through select moments in human history
We walked through an Industrial Revolution textile factory
through a medieval castle and into an Egyptian burial chamber before walking through a bronze-age cave replete with cave art and a pre-historic family gathered around a fire
Further rooms followed the reverse evolution of humans and through a very well-down recreated wetland until we were
but perhaps there was something lost in translation
we entered what the museum claims is “the biggest Dinoshow in the world.” The nearly life-sized animatronic animals throughout the museum are impressive
Gone are the jittery days of creepy whirring machines
long-necked dino and its baby were the features of the Dinoshow
and their look and movements are very realistic
The show itself has overly dramatic orchestral background music that falls into old tropes of pegging the carnivores as scary bad guys
we all want to love the cute baby dino and hope the mean T-Rex doesn’t eat it
Anyone sensitive to emotional scenes will want to skip it
since the ending is as expected: The asteroid hits and our Cretaceous scene comes to an end
Following the Dinoshow masterpiece is a segment of construction
A new display is in the works and is intended for public release in the spring of 2024
The final attraction at Das Praehistorium is the Megalodon 3D show
It was another highlight; prepare to be attacked
but quite enjoyable for my family of teenagers
Two other kids who I would guess were aged between seven and nine years old didn’t make it the whole way through
They ran out scared while a third kid braved the entire show
but not without needing a cry and cuddle from dad on the way out
Das Praehistorium recommends children be at least six years old to enjoy the museum
and didn’t watch the big Dinoshow or the Megalodon
Small children are not the primary audience here; the museum is geared toward older kids and adults
are over the cutesy kid-focused route paleontology has taken
but they are also not that into reading tiny signs at stuffy fossil museums
This place doesn’t hold back from the realism factor; there are guts and gore and naked Australopithecus
There are also loud scenes with special effects and a bunch of fossil replicas and geologic facts thrown in for pacing
which was the southern portion of the supercontinent Pangea that held most of Earth’s landmass throughout much of prehistory
Gondwana was not the precursor to modern Europe
it primarily held southern hemisphere continents like Africa and South America