Mineralogical Collections of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Mining Academy)

Freiberg, the classic region of silver mining and cradle of mineralogy, is home to one of the largest, oldest and most beautiful mineralogical collections in the world. Around 9,000 minerals, gemstones, meteorites and rocks are exhibited on an area of almost 1,000 m² of the Abraham-Gottlob-Werner-Building [1]. The exhibitions are systematically structured and serve primarily to educate students. The best specimens from the Saxon Ore Mountains were also complemented by visually attractive specimens from all over the world, so that the collection is also of interest to the general public. The beginnings of the collection go back to 1765, when the oldest Mining Academy of the world was founded. The most important historical basis of our current mineralogical collections are the extensive private geoscientific collections of Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817), which were purchased by the Mining Academy in 1814. After Werner’s death, famous scientists completed and developed the collections. These includes Friederich Mohs (1773-1839), August Breithaupt (1791-1873), Albin Weisbach (1833-1901), Bernhard von Cotta (1808-1879) and Hans Jürgen Rösler (1920-2009) [2]. The Mineralogical Collections are part of the Geoscientific Collections, which are a central operating unit of the Faculty of Geosciences, Geotechnics and Mining at the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg.