beta-FeOOH was precipitated from a chloride solution. Mossbauer spectra were taken at room temperature (RT) and at 4.2 K in zero field and in external magnetic fields. Samples aged for successively longer time periods were studied. They contain alpha-FeOOH and alpha-Fe2O3, the Mossbauer spectra of which show superparamagnetic behavior. The transformation into alpha-Fe2O3 is already induced by aging in the mother solution at 100 degrees C. A final heat treatment at 350 degrees C leads to the complete transformation into alpha-Fe2O3 and to an increase of the crystallite size.