People who are interested in or working with meteorites and related objects usually require material for research, exhibition or collection from institutes or museums. The family of private meteorite collectors is growing and following the number of dealers. New unique material will be sold to dealers, who often cut it into micro-mounts to reach the highest profit. Often scientifically valuable material is destroyed and small parts are distributed within the Meteoritic Community. This means that these meteorites are lost for the public. Institutes and museums cannot acquire rare material due to lack of money. So the restrictivity of institutes and museums to deal with private collectors is continuously growing. As a result, the prices for rare meteorites are skyrocketing.

It is a duty of the Meteoritic Community (dealers, collectors and scientists) to work close together and not to split into private and scientific sub-communities. The results of everyone’s work, scientist, collector or dealer depends on good co-operation.

Based on meteorite deals and information interchanges, this fair will solidify the cooperation within the Meteoritic Community and force a fair intercourse to reach mutual benefits.

You are cordially invited to the 1st International Meteorite Fair, to be held in the "Deutsches Haus" in Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany, on the weekend of November 7th/8th, 1998. Gifhorn was first mentioned in 1196/97. It is a nice medieval city with gracious historic buildings surrounded by heather, woods, meadows, small rivers and ancient eolic dunes.

Gifhorn is well served by air (Hanover 70 km, Brunswick regional airport 25 km), railway and highway.

The fair will open on Saturday at 10 a.m. by the mayor of Gifhorn, Mr. Manfred Birth.

Scientists, collectors and interested people will have a chance to see and purchase extraterrestrial material of the different known meteorite types, tektites and impact rocks. Furthermore you will find information, equipment and material regarding corrosion protection, sampling, storage etc.

The exhibition is accompanied by four lectures (in German speach, on request also in English) on Saturday and two on Sunday. During this fair in Gifhorn you will find the largest exhibition of German meteorites which were ever on display.

For guests arriving already on Friday a welcome party will be held.

Entrance fee DM/person 5.00

Sales and display area (table-m/day) DM 20.00

Welcome Party DM/person 57.00

Visitors´s Package DM/person *187.00

Dealer´s Package DM/person *227.00

The packages include accommodation in double rooms (single rooms add. DM 25.00/day) in the fair building "Deutsches Haus" from Nov. 6^th to 8th, breakfast, Welcome Party, entrance fee and the Dealer´s Package 2 m display table, too.

Rooms are available in style from „superior" compact to „standard". The prices are reasonable (DM 30 to DM 170 per person and night, incl. breakfast. Details of accommodations will be posted in the meeting Web site www.stadt-gifhorn.de, and included with the second announcement.

Guests will find a lot of interesting activities at this weekend and the week before. This is interesting for people, who will have attended the Munich Mineral Show one weekend before and would like to stay until the 1st International Meteorite Fair in Gifhorn.

On the typical heather you can fish, play golf, ride horses, attend painting and batik lectures, visit most interesting museums or experience the heathen pure by living in a sheep stable or rafting on the heathen rivers through the foggy moor. For small groups we will arrange visits of salt and iron ore mines, Geological Museums and geological excursions on demand. On request we will arrange individual activities meeting your interests.