Christian Bergemann is the new director of the RiesCraterMuseum Nördlingen

RiesCraterMuseum Nördlingen, 03.03.2026

Christian Bergemann joined the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History (SNSB) on March 1st. The geoscientist will take over as scientific director of the RiesCraterMuseum Nördlingen, one of the SNSB’s ten natural history museums. He succeeds his long-standing predecessor, Prof. Dr. Stefan Hölzl.

Dr. Christian Bergemann most recently headed a research project at Heidelberg University funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The geoscientist conducts research on minerals and rocks, particularly using modern age-dating and isotope geochemical methods. The aim of his research is to precisely place geological events such as meteorite impacts within Earth’s history and to gain a better understanding of them. After completing his doctorate at the University of Geneva, his scientific career took Bergemann to the University of Heidelberg and then to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he coordinated a research project at the Industrial Resource Strategies think tank. Bergemann will now move to Nördlingen with his family.

Dr. Christian Bergemann sees taking over as scientific director of the RiesCraterMuseum in Nördlingen as a unique opportunity: “The Nördlinger Ries, one of the world’s best-preserved meteorite craters, offers optimal scientific starting points for my research. In my new role as museum director, I would like to further strengthen the profile of the RiesCraterMuseum as a place of current research and scientific networking, while at the same time making the geological uniqueness of the region visible to a broad audience.”

Dr. Christian Bergemann succeeds Prof. Dr. Stefan Hölzl, who retired last summer. “With Mr. Bergemann, the SNSB and our museum in Nördlingen are gaining a young, ambitious scientist. I look forward to working with him to further expand the museum’s research focus and to his new ideas for raising the scientific profile of our entire research institution,” said Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann, Director General of the Bavarian State Natural History Collections (SNSB).

Mayor David Wittner is also excited about the RiesCraterMuseum’s new director: “The RiesCraterMuseum is a very special place for our city—a museum that uniquely combines history, nature, and experience, attracting visitors from all over the world to Nördlingen. With Dr. Christian Bergemann, a proven expert is taking on this responsible task. I wish him every success in his new role and look forward to working with him.”

The RiesCraterMuseum Nördlingen is embedded in the museum landscape and research infrastructure of the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History. As a “museum in the crater,” it offers insights into the meteorite impact 15 million years ago, but also shows how life returned to the Ries natural area after the catastrophe. Attached to the museum is the Center for Ries Crater and Impact Research Nördlingen (ZERIN) – a research and education center with a geological collection and isotope laboratory. At the heart of the Nördlingen collection are the drill cores from the 1,200-meter-deep research borehole through the Ries crater from 1973 – a valuable treasure for science. Every year, numerous researchers and, as part of an ESA geological training program, astronauts visit the RiesCraterMuseum and ZERIN.

Contact:
Dr. Christian Bergemann
Scientific Director
SNSB – RiesKraterMuseum Nördlingen
Eugene-Shoemaker-Platz 1, 86720 Nördlingen
Phone: 049 9081 84 713
E-Mail: bergemann@snsb.de