Collection notes

During your collecting trips, always consider whether your planned interventions in nature are justified, acceptable and, above all, permitted. Please take care of our nature, the animals living there as well as the plants and the associated environment. Always leave your sites as clean as you found them. Take your rubbish and that of your predecessors with you and dispose of it properly.

Pay particular attention to the appearance of your excavation or find sites and leave them in such a way that they blend seamlessly into their surroundings. In any case, avoid damaging cultivated land, forests, roads, paths, private property or similar.

If you occupy a site for further processing, leave your collection or blasting tool in a clearly visible place. You should also leave a weatherproof sign with your name, address and date of occupancy. The right of occupancy expires automatically if the site is not worked on within two years or if it is obviously abandoned. In addition, you should never occupy more than three sites in one area - give others a chance to make nice finds. Removing or taking minerals, fossils, tools or other objects from such a marked site is unfair to your fellow collectors and also qualifies as theft in many places - this is an appeal to the honour and honesty of each and every one of us.

Note that many quarries, clay pits, construction sites or other outcrops are private property. Never enter them without permission or without the owner's consent and acquiescence. If you enter private property without permission, you are trespassing and liable to prosecution.

Außerdem denke hierbei bitte auch an andere Sammler, die durch solcherlei Ignoranz unter Umständen die Möglichkeit verlieren, an den betreffenden Aufschlüssen weiter zu sammeln.

Always act in a friendly and exemplary manner towards the property owners and all associated persons and save the face of our community of interest, as a good relationship between both parties is beneficial for everyone. Always behave as you would wish others to behave.

Especially on factory premises, make sure that you park discreetly and that operations are not disturbed in any way.

Always handle information about your discovered and especially sensitive sites (this includes, for example, all naturally developed sites) with the utmost care. This serves to protect nature and the environment on the one hand, and to protect your own interests and finding opportunities on the other.

If you make a rare or unusual find, or even a new discovery, please make it available to the appropriate scientific authorities and make it available for study.

Please do not dispose of stone or preparation waste from other sources at a site.

Note that the use of explosives, hammer drills or other mechanical devices is only permitted with the permission of the competent authority. In addition, in the case of the use of such tools, local and temporal conditions must be taken into account, i.e. such actions should be refrained from on Sundays and public holidays, as well as directly in recreational and residential areas.

Point out their misconduct to other collectors who are grossly negligent or behave wrongly.

Minerals and fossils only have a corresponding scientific value if there are exact details about where they were found. Please catalogue your collection to preserve this value.

If you sell or trade minerals and fossils, consider it your honourable duty to inform the buyer about their exact origin, as well as about repaired or artificially altered or produced objects.

Before your excursions, always inform yourself about the local collecting and mining laws of the area or country you are heading for. Always check with the relevant authorities about existing patents and regulations and follow them. In many places, only a limited collecting permit is valid or a membership in the local collecting association is necessary. You should also always inform yourself about specially protected areas, such as nature reserves, national parks, geotopes, cultural monuments, etc. Never collect there without the appropriate permit. Never collect there without a corresponding permit from the responsible authority, as this can result in severe penalties.

Never leave your tools at sites where active mining (commercial or private) is taking place. There is a risk that your tool could get caught in a machine and cause considerable damage or even dangerous situations.

Always and in every situation pay attention to your safety and that of your environment, be it humans, animals or plants. Safety always comes first. No stone, no matter how beautiful, rare or valuable, is worth an injury or even a life. Please always stay away from rock faces, steep slopes, loose boulders, machines, plants and the like. Do not dig deep holes, undercut trees and bushes, or do anything else that could pose a danger to yourself or your followers. If possible, always go into the field in pairs.

Before your excursions, always ensure that you have the appropriate protective equipment (suitable footwear, goggles, helmet, protective gloves, bivouac sack, thermal blanket, bandages, rope, provisions, etc.). It is better to take a little more with you than too little.