Munich Wood Research
Munich Wood Research (HFM) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of Europe’s leading centers for future-oriented wood research. Its focus is on developing innovative solutions for the climate-friendly, resource-efficient, and sustainable use of wood as a material.
Solutions to key challenges of the future are developed across five strategic research areas – supported by a high-performance technical infrastructure.
Together, all departments at HFM design modern curricula for degree programs in forestry and wood sciences, civil engineering, and the use of renewable resources – thereby training the specialists needed for the sustainable materials sector of tomorrow.
In addition, the HFM operates a building authority-approved testing, monitoring, and certification body for timber construction products and offers services in the areas of expert assessments, special testing, and product development – a decisive added value for industry partners who prioritize quality, safety, and innovation.
Research Focus Areas
- Materials Science of Wood
Structures, properties, and functions of wood and other lignified plant tissues across various length scales (from molecular to macroscopic) as a function of environmental conditions.
- Wood Technology
Mechanics and physics of wood, wood construction products and wood-based materials, sorting methods, quality assessment, NDT and computer modeling, stock assessments, adhesives, fire behavior of wood.
- Fungal Biotechnology in Wood Science
Characterization of wood- and lignocellulose-degrading fungi – from elucidating the molecular signaling pathways of substrate recognition to their use in biotechnological applications within the circular bioeconomy.
- Raw Material & Product Chemistry
Chemical characterization of wood, wood preservative analyses, and research on thermally and chemically modified wood.
- Material Flow Management
Material flow analyses, life cycle assessments, and strategies for the sustainable, circular use of wood (products), including waste and scrap wood.
Professorships at Munich Wood Research
The HFM brings together four distinguished research groups that collectively cover the entire spectrum of modern wood research, sustainable resource science, and materials science innovation, thereby creating a unique breadth of scientific expertise that ranges from technological fundamentals and biotechnological processes to ecological assessment and functional materials development:
Holzforschung München is accredited as a testing laboratory (EN 17025) and as a certification body (EN 17065), and is recognized as a PÜZ body under the EU Construction Products Regulation (CE marking) and the State Building Code (Ü marking). We test, monitor, and certify timber construction products and support companies in product development, quality assurance, and special issues.
PÜZ Wood Construction Products - Overview of services
European Journal of Wood and Wood Products
The European Journal of Wood and Wood Products presents international research findings and developments related to wood and wood products. The journal focuses on their biological, chemical, physical, and mechanical-technological properties, their processing, and their diverse areas of application.
Topics range from roundwood and sawn timber to wood-based materials and the underlying technologies – with a particular emphasis on applications in the construction industry.
The focus is on scientific papers with high practical relevance.
Wood Science and Technology
Wood Science and Technology publishes original scientific articles from all areas of wood science and wood technology.
The content covers the fundamental characterization of wood-based materials as well as innovative technologies, methods, and processes – from biological and technical disintegration through material modification to the production of new materials.
| Publisher: | Prof. Dr. Klaus Richter, Prof. Dr. Jan-Willem van de Kuilen, Munich |
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| Questions? Our editorial team is here to help | Tel.: +49 89 289 29 627 |
The Xylothek at the HFM is a world-renowned collection where wood is not only studied but literally “read.” As a scientific wood species collection, it comprises over 10,000 wood samples and 22,000 thin sections from more than 5,000 tree and shrub species – systematically arranged by botanical family and digitally cataloged. It serves as an indispensable reference resource for research and teaching, for example, for identifying unknown wood species and in accordance with the Wood Species Identification Act.
From the Beginning to the Current Day: The History of Munich Wood Research
| 1949 | Bavaria plans to establish its own Wood Research Institute. |
| 1954 | Franz Kollmann becomes a professor at LMU and director of the new Institute for Wood Research and Wood Technology (headquartered at the Prinz-Leopold Barracks). |
| 1954 | The institute is launching with five departments (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mechanical Technology, and Mechanics/Testing). |
| 1956 | Founding of the Society of Friends and Supporters of Wood Research in Munich (Gesellschaft der Freunde und Förderer der Holzforschung München e. V., GFF). |
| 1970 | A visiting group from TUM led by Peter Glos begins systematic strength testing. |
| 1972 | Franz Kollmann's retirement. |
| 1973 | Horst Schulz will become director of the institute; greater focus on forestry. |
| 1974 | The institute will become part of the new School of Forest Sciences (LMU). |
| 1984 | Peter Glos becomes a professor of physical wood technology. |
| 1992 | Relocation of the Faculty of Forestry to Freising-Weihenstephan (HFM remains in Munich). |
| 1993 | Gerd Wegener is appointed as the director of the institute. |
| 1999 | The faculty is moving from LMU to the Technical University of Munich (TUM). |
| 2000 | The institute is being renamed Munich Wood Research (Holzforschung München, HFM) and integrated into the Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan (WZW). |
| 2009 | Jan-Willem van de Kuilen becomes a professor of wood technology. |
| 2010 | Establishment of the Material Flow Management Division under the leadership of Gabriele Weber-Blaschke. |
| 2011 | Klaus Richter assumes the chair of Wood Science and the directorship of the HFM. |
| 2014 | J. Philipp Benz is taking over the Biology Department as a tenure-track professor of wood bioprocesses. |
| 2020 | The Assistant Professorship in Wood Bioprocesses becomes the Associate Professorship in Fungal Biotechnology in Wood Science. |
| 2024 | Michaela Eder becomes a professor of wood science and functionalization. |
| 2024 | 70th Anniversary Celebration of Munich Wood Research. |
Wood as a raw material in cascade use
Prof. Weber Blaschke talks on using wood sustainably and efficiently through cascade utilisation (2:53-5:13 and 43:19-45:45).
TUM.wood - From tree to house
The TUM.wood research groupcovers the entire value chain: from its origin in the forest to material technology and building applications to reuse and recycling strategies.
Schwabing-West Location
TUM School of Engineering and Design
Munich Wood Research
Winzererstr. 45
80797 München
Weihenstephan Location
TUM School of Life Sciences
Munich Wood Research
Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2
85354 Freising
hfm@tum.de
The goals of the HFM are supported by the GFF - Gesellschaft der Freunde und Förderer der Holzforschung München e. V..