Hallo,

I'm a mineral collector since I was a little boy. Of course, my collecting habits have changed several times through my life. In my early experiences, the most important approach was to collect every appealing mineral that I could find by myself. Many years and field trips later, I actually try to collect minerals much more selectively. To me, minerals disclose the beauty of nature and offer the opportunity of comtemplation. At the same time, they remind me that since the emergence of early cultures, human skills could not have been achieved and refined without the serious involvement of minerals and gems. Through these considerations, my present concept of mineral collecting has maturated: Collecting beautiful mineral specimens along with - whenever possible -selected products and objects of art made of the respective mineral or produced through its procession. In my professional activity, I'm an experimental zoologist and teacher. I learned that evolution too was only possible because all forms of life have accomplished the ability to integrate the inorganic world around them - including minerals in a very basic sense - into their own programming and evolution. So, combining ideas of my professional activity and of my hobby has offered me the opportunity to follow two important scientific approaches: contemplation and experimental accession. In both attitudes, the experience of beauty will always remain an important key.