The Altmühlalb region is home to a world-renowned fossil site: the Solnhofen limestone slabs provide us with knowledge about more than 700 species that lived during the Upper Jurassic period. These finds are made possible by the manual quarrying of the coveted natural stone.

In October 2022, an international jury added the fossil sites of the archaeopteryx in the Solnhofen limestone slabs to the list of the 100 most important geotopes in the world, the IUGS Geological Heritage Sites. IUGS stands for International Union of Geological Sciences.