Michael Farrenkopf

Dr. Michael Farrenkopf is a lecturer at the history faculty of Ruhr-University Bochum since 2003 and at the Institute for industrial archaeology, science and technical history at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg since 2014. He has been working at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (German Mining Museum) since 1995, where he currently serves as head of the department "collections and documentation" and as a member of the steering committee.

His educational background includes studies in history, journalism and art history at the Universities of Mainz and Berlin between 1987 and 1994, earning a Master of Arts. He completed his PhD at the Technical University of Berlin in 1999/2000 with a thesis on "Fire Damp and Coal Dust. The explosion risk in the industrial Ruhr mining (1850-1914)".

Dr. Farrenkopf's research focuses on mining history, industrial archaeology, economic and company history, historical accident research in mining, and the cokemaking industry. His work examines the social, economic, and technological aspects of mining and industrial heritage, with particular attention to German mining regions.

His notable recognition includes:

• Young Investigator Award of the Georg-Agricola-Society for the promotion of history of natural science and technology

As an academic and museum professional, Dr. Farrenkopf has contributed significantly to the preservation and interpretation of industrial heritage. He has served in various leadership roles including editor-in-chief of the mining history magazine DER ANSCHNITT (2001-2010), head of the historian commission of the Association of German coke plant specialists (since 2004), and member of the working group of archives of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Association (2005-2009).

His current work focuses on the preservation of coal mining heritage areas, as evidenced by his participation in multiple conference sessions on this topic. He also examines new cultural landscapes in East German lignite mining regions.