A Tyrolean stream bed tells the story of meteorites
October 5, 2026
At this year's meteorite experts' gathering at the Munich Show, the focus is on a find that has been raising questions in the meteorite community for several years: Austria's first iron meteorite!
For many years, the Meteorite Experts’ Gathering has been a staple of the Munich Show. Led by Dieter Heinlein, a meteorite expert at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and his wife Gabi, visitors can expect a lively mix of the latest news and a genuine atmosphere for conversation. This year’s highlight is a discovery of an iron meteorite and its fascinating story.
A Shiny Chunk in a Mountain Stream
It all began in the fall of 2020, when a hiker from Innsbruck came across a shiny silver chunk of metal in a stream bed north of Zirl. The find weighed about 3.82 kilograms. Its surface displayed a characteristic crystalline pattern found only in iron meteorites, which was already visible to the naked eye due to the abrasion caused by the mountain stream. A mineralogist from the University of Innsbruck confirmed that it was a metal meteorite. But skepticism among the collector community was high—the find from Tyrol bore a strong resemblance to the well-known Swedish iron meteorite Muonionalusta, which is widely traded at mineral shows. Is the “Innsbruck stream bed find” ultimately nothing more than a purchased meteorite specimen from Sweden?
Unraveling the Mystery with High-Tech Methods
State-of-the-art science was employed to find the answer. Initial analyses at the University of Cologne confirmed that it is a classic nickel-iron meteorite, astonishingly similar in composition to Muonionalusta. However, specialized laboratories in Vienna and Canberra conducted additional tests to examine the radioactive traces that every meteorite accumulates on its journey through space. The result is unequivocal—the radiation levels in the Tyrolean specimen are about a thousand times higher than those in Muonionalusta. This means it must be a separate case and an independent find!
An Iron Meteorite from Austria—Live at the Munich Show
Based on the results, meteorite specialist Karl Wimmer personally reviewed the discovery history once again and coordinated further analyses. As is customary in such cases, a reference specimen has already been deposited at the Institute of Planetology in Münster. This is truly an extraordinary iron meteorite—one whose story is far from over—and the original specimen will be on display at the meteorite experts’ gathering at the Munich Show!