History

The first specimens come from Friedrich August BREITHAUPT (1791-1873), Bernhard v. COTTA (1808-1879) and Alfred Wilhelm STELZNER (1840-1895). Otto STUTZER (1881-1936) began the systematic organisation of the collection. In 1919 he gave the world's first lecture on "The Geology of Coal" and in 1927 the Freiberg Institute of Coal Geology was founded at his suggestion. He, Karl Alfons JURASKY (1903-1945), Richard HUNGER (1911-1957) and Gerhard ROSELT (1915-2000) demonstrated the connection between coal geology and palaeobotany (also in the collections) and their students developed it further.

Collection

Today, the collection comprises around 30,000 specimens and 30,000 preparations and polished sections.