Giorgio Gasser, from Alto Adige, was a naturalist whose collection of minerals was acquired by the University of Padua in 1934. It is a collection of notable historical and regional interest, especially given the numerous mineralogical specimens originating from deposits in the Alto Adige and Austrian Tyrol areas, many of which by now entirely depleted.
The Gasser collection comprises nearly 2,500 items.
These include a set of colourless, smoked and amethystine quartzes coming from deposits in the Valle Aurina, the Val di Vizze and Zillertal (a valley in the Austrian Tyrol), also fine specimens of apatite and epidote from the Valle Aurina.
Also from the Zillertal comes an optimum specimen of ilmenite presenting flat tabular crystals measuring a few centimetres, and from Piztal (another Tyrolean valley), a classic specimen of andalusite having prismatic crystals of up to 7 centimetres. Among the mineralogical deposits in Alto Adige is that of Alpe Burgusio in the Val di Vizze, from which significant samples of perovskite, zircon and garnet were collected.
The historical sites of Alpe di Siusi have yielded some very fine samples of apophyllite, analcime and prehnite.
Along with classic specimens of “fassaite”, garnet, heulandite, spinel, vesuvianite and a large polished slice of chalcedony, all from the Val di Fassa, there are several exceptionally large samples of analcime and mesolite from Masonade in Val San Nicolò.
