Career
| 1556-1961 |
Mining apprenticeship in Essen, Mine Essen-Rossenay Vocational school |
| 1961-1962 | Work as qualified miner |
| 1962-1965 |
Police officer in Federal Border Guard, school of frontier police last rank: police constable in Federal Border Guard |
| Sep. 1967 | Abitur (a-level exam) |
| 1967-1973 | Studies of history, sociology, German studies, philosophy and pedagogy at the University of Münster |
| 1969 / 1970 | Studies at the Hamilton-College, Clinton, New York/USA, with a fellowship of the Fulbright Program |
| 1973-1975 | Graduation at the University of Münster, at the same time scientific staff member in a research project |
| Aug. 1975 | University of Munich, scientific staff member, giving lectures |
| Dec. 1975 |
Doctorate summa cum laude from the University of Münster with a dissertation about the "social history of the mountain working on the Ruhr in the 19th Century" |
| Feb. 1981 | Habilitation at the Faculty of the University of Munich in a thesis on "Proletarian province. Radicalization and resistance in Penzberg, Upper Bavaria. 1900-1945 ", since teaching in the main, support of examination candidates and students, consulting activities, membership in various scientific advisory boards |
| 1981 | Heinz-Meier-Leibnitz Prize for Young Scientists of the Ministry of Science and Research |
| 1985 | Appointed to Chairs of Modern History and Economic History at the Universities of Essen and Innsbruck |
| March 1986 |
Full University Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Innsbrurck |
| Spring 1986 | Visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Aug. 1990 | Professor of history with special emphasis on social history at the University of Bielefeld |
| Summer 1994 | Visiting Professor at the University of Cape Town, RSA |
| 1994 | Award of the Thyssen-Stiftung |
| Nov. 1995 | Chair of Social and social movements at the Ruhr-University of Bochum, and Director of the Institute of Social Movements (ISB) |
| since 1998 | Chairman of the Library Foundation of the Ruhr |
Memberships / Activitites
| since 1982 | Co-opted member of the working group for modern social history, Heidelberg |
| since 1986 | Co-opted member of the Commission for the History of Parlamentarismus und Parliamentary and political parties, Bonn |
| since 1998 | Chairman of the Library Foundation of the Ruhr,Bochum |
| since 2000 |
Member of the Historical Commission for Westphalia Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Museum of Contemporary History, Bonn Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Otto von Bismark Foundation, Friedrichsruh |
| since 2001 |
Member of the Foundation joined the Reich President Friedrich Ebert Memorial Member of the Research Work - Education - Participation eV, Recklinghausen Executive Board of the Society for Economic history of Westphalia Liaison Officer of the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Advisory Board "Essen in National Socialism" |
| since 2005 | Advisory Board of the Ruhr Essen Country Museum |