Mineralogy

The mineralogical collections are amongst the oldest in the world as their portfolio dates back to the Art Chamber founded in 1560 by Elector August in Dresden. They have continuously grown over more than 400 years.

 In the center of the research projects of the division are collection-related and applied researches:

• Regional mineralogy and mineral topography of Saxony
• Saxon precious and semi-precious stones
• Museum and collection history, history of the earth sciences
• Scientific collection documentation
• Compilation of bibliographies on the geoscientific literature about Saxony
• Heavy metal extraction from industrial and mining waste (finished in 2012)
• Within the scope of a cooperative agreement the head of the section teaches at the TU Dresden (the Dresden University of Technology) including the lectures “Mineral Raw Materials” and “Mineralogical Analytical Methods”.

Our research contributes to the Research Field Biodiversity and Earth System Dynamics.