Welcome to our department
Gender sensitivity and protection against violence on excursions
Studying Geography
Meet our research groups
Welcome to our department
Gender sensitivity and protection against violence on excursions
Studying Geography
Meet our research groups

Department of Geography at the University of Bonn

The Department of Geography at the University of Bonn is part of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and belongs to the Department of Earth Sciences. Our research and teaching covers almost the entire spectrum of Geography, which guarantees the necessary breadth in an interdisciplinary study program.

Once a semester, the Department of Geography publishes a newsletter on current developments and events.

News
Litter in the Rhine River: Some 53,000 Items of Litter Flow Past Cologne Daily
The amount of litter floating in the Rhine is many times larger than previously believed. Researchers from the University of Bonn, the University of Tübingen and the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) partnered with the Cologne-based non-profit pollution-fighting organization K.R.A.K.E. to collect and classify macro litter in a floating litter trap—the only one of its kind in Germany—over a period of 16 months. Katharina Höreth from Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers' working group “Ecohydrology and Water Resources Management” at the Department of Geography is part of the project. Extrapolation models based on the observed volume indicate that roughly 53,000 items of macro waste debris float past Cologne on the Rhine river every day. Disposable plastic products make up a large proportion of the litter found in the Rhine. The findings have now been published in the scientific journal “Communications Sustainability.”
Melanie Stammler successfully defends her dissertation on kinematics of rock glaciers in the Dry Andes of Argentina
Melanie Stammler successfully defended her dissertation “Multi-Scale Rock Glacier Kinematics in the Dry Andes of Argentina: From DEMs to the State of Permafrost Using Photogrammetry”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Lothar Schrott. Congratulations!
Beyond Biomedicine: Gods and Supernatural Forces
People’s conceptions of health are strongly influenced by their cultural values and norms, such as their religious beliefs. In an increasingly diverse society, different understandings of health are combining and melding through interaction and dialogue. This phenomenon has been investigated by Kevin Becker and Adjunct Professor Carsten Butsch from the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn, who is also a member of the Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area. Their findings have now been published in the journal “Science & Medicine.” 
AI Day at GIUB
For two years, GIUB and the newly founded ‘AI Working Group’ have been looking into the use of artificial intelligence in research and teaching. Following the publication of a guide on using AI in teaching, AI Day took place at GIUB on 26 November 2025. In a lunch lecture and an evening discussion, the speakers addressed the use of AI to predict extreme events and the influence of AI tools on research and teaching in human geography. A common conclusion was that AI poses a significant challenge for teaching. At the same time, the event provided numerous ideas for the ongoing debate on AI in geography.
Events
Research Café: Research funding event
Meckenheimer Allee 176, ...
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Research funding event for Professors and WiMis. Further details and program information will be announced here shortly.
BGG-Vortrag: Die Wohnungsfrage von Rechts
Meckenheimer Allee 166, ...
05:15 PM - 06:15 PM
Mit der Normalisierung radikal-rechter Ideologien geht eine Ausdifferenzierung ihrer Politik einher, die zunehmend auch die Wohnungsfrage umfasst. Der Vortrag ...
International Lecture in Cultural Geography: Exclusion as Default
Meckenheimer Allee 166, ...
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Exclusion as Default: The legal and policy dynamics around the production of irregular migration in the Netherlands This talk explores the factors shaping ...
BGG-Vortrag: Rechte Raumnahme und gesellschaftliche Regression
Meckenheimer Allee 166, ...
05:15 PM - 06:15 PM
BGG-Vortrag: In der Rechtsextremismusforschung wird seit zumindest Ende der 1990er Jahre intensiv über rechte Raumnahme diskutiert. Hierfür stehen Schlagworte ...

The Department of Geography has a rich history that spans more than 140 years of teaching and research. It is the largest and one of the most distinguished Geography departments in Germany.

It has 15 independent research groups that encompass a wide variety of geographical topics. Our research is organized around eight research clusters within five main research focus areas: Water Futures, Risk and Security, Governing Transformations, Inequality and Justice and Land Surface Dynamics. Geomorphology, Hydrology, Development Geography and Remote Sensing are just a few examples of our wide choice of research clusters in Human and Physical Geographies. Each of our research fields is managed by one or more professors in the department. This enables us to provide our students with a high quality and unique education, especially if they wish to choose an interdisciplinary or applied study-approach.

Entrance of the main building in summer
© Friederike Pauk/GIUB

The Department of Geography on Social Media

The Department of Geography is active on different social media portals. Please use the following links to get directly on our profiles.

Instagram

We post all news from the department on teaching, events and the everyday life at the department on Instagram. You can also find the best pictures from our field trips here.

Bluesky

We publish the latest news from the work of our research groups (e.g. new projects & publications, exciting talks) on Bluesky, and are connected to important institutions and researchers.

YouTube

We have different videos on YouTube: introductions of the department and certain groups within, videos from field trips, helpful tips on literature research in our library and much more.

Links to other important institutions

Directly connected with the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn are the Fachschaft Geographie, the Geographical Society of Bonn and the Geoverbund ABC/J.

Student Council Geography 

The Fachschaft Geographie is the officially elected Student Council Geography and represents all students at the Department of Geography.

Geographical Society of Bonn

The Geographical Society of Bonn (BGG) is a registered, non-profit association. The most important goal of the BGG is to present findings of geographical research to the general public in easily comprehensible way.

Geoverbund ABC/J

The Geoverbund ABC/J is the geoscientific network of the Aachen-Bonn-Cologne/Jülich research area.

Contact

Address of the Department

Contact

+49 (0)228-737290

geographie@uni-bonn.de

Address

Meckenheimer Allee 166

53115 Bonn

Germany

Administrative Office, Heike Breitbach

Contact

+49 (0)228 73-7290

gf-assistenz-geographie@uni-bonn.de

Address

Meckenheimer Allee 166

Room 0.011 (104a)

53115 Bonn

Germany

Header_Gewaltschutz_72dpi.png
© A. Schoch-Baumann

Respect each other! Respect boundaries - create safe places

The Department of Geography has set itself the task of enabling everyone to work together on an equal, non-discriminatory, respectful and trusting basis. Further information can be found on the page Protection against violence.

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