In "Profile of the clay mine close to Lauterbach" W. KLÜPFEL 1927 observed "... graue und schokoladenbraune Tonlagen mit kohligen Pflanzenresten und kohligen Lagen (Sabal)" sowie Ton mit Blattabdrücken". Sabal is a palm species. Fossiles of cinnamon leaves were also found. So more than 20 million years ago the Lauterbach area was a tropical region.
A collection of Lauterbach Leave Fauna owned by a Lauterbach family was exhibited in Lauterbach Hohhaus Museum in 1986.
Fossiles like the 10 cm long laurel leave on the right photo were formed when those leaves together with weathering products of the Vogelsberg basalt were washed together on the bottom of a lake.
Due to the absence of oxygen they did not rot. They became a part of the clay.