History

The Geomechanik-Kolloquium is a series of engineering-focused events with a long history. Today, it is jointly organized by the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering at TU Bergakademie Freiberg and IfG Institut für Gebirgsmechanik GmbH. For over 60 years, the Geomechanik-Kolloquium has brought together practitioners, engineers, and scientists from the fields of salt mining, cavern storage, and final disposal, as well as rock mechanics, once a year to exchange technical insights on current developments, projects, and challenges in rock mechanics. The venue alternates annually between Leipzig and Freiberg.

In 1963, an internal working meeting was held in Leipzig between staff members of the Geomechanics Research Unit at the Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften in Freiberg and staff members of the Institut für Grubensicherheit in Leipzig, Department of Rock Mechanics. Prof. Werner A. R. Gimm, head of the Geomechanics Department at the Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften, and Prof. Karl-Heinz Höfer, director of the Institut für Grubensicherheit, initiated this meeting. It can be considered the first geomechanics colloquium.

The following year, this meeting was held again, also on a small scale. These working meetings strengthened cooperation and mutual trust among the staff of both participating institutions. At the request of the industry, the event was opened to the public in 1965 during the third colloquium. This allowed representatives of the potash industry and copper-shale mining to participate in the meeting for the first time. By 1968, the meeting had already grown into an event of national significance in the GDR. Thus, 125 participants from 33 institutions gathered for the 6th meeting at the colloquium in Aue. The event was also expanded and enriched in terms of its subject matter. From then on, the focus was not only on rock mechanics but also on issues related to rock engineering. At the 12th colloquium in 1974, Prof. Gimm bestowed the title “Geomechanik Kolloquium” upon the event.

Starting with the 14th Geomechanics Colloquium in 1976, the event was held every two to three years, alternating between Leipzig and Freiberg. In November 1989, the 20th Geomechanik-Kolloquium was held in Freiberg at the TU Bergakademie, moderated by Prof. Tilo Döring. However, the date for the next event remained undecided due to the impending upheavals associated with German reunification.

The first colloquium following the fall of the Berlin Wall was organized as early as May 1992. The 21st Geomechanik-Kolloquium took place at the Agra Club in Markkleeberg near Leipzig. This meeting was organized by former employees of the Institut für Bergbausicherheit, who had found a new professional home at the newly founded Institut für Gebirgsmechanik GmbH, together with the Institute for Geotechnics at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and colleagues from DMT Bochum. The following year, at the 22nd Geomechanik-Kolloquium in Freiberg, the number of participants had already doubled, and the colloquium had developed into a nationwide event.

In 2001, the 30th Geomechanik-Kolloquium was held as an anniversary event at the Sondershausen potash mine, featuring a retrospective on the previous 30 events. This tradition continues to this day: In 2022, the 50th Geomechanik-Kolloquium took place in the underground concert hall at the GTS Sondershausen mine, with more than 200 participants from Germany and abroad.

You can find information about the current event here.