Gerhard Vinken
Gerhard Vinken (born 15 April 1961 in Hannover) is a German art historian and a professor at the University of Bamberg. Life. Gerhard Vinken studied Art History, Philosophy, and History in Freiburg, Paris and Berlin. He received his doctorate from the Free University of Berlin in 1995 with a dissertation on French Romanesque architecture. In 2008 he completed his habilitation in Art History at the University of Bern, Switzerland. From 1992 to 1994 he served as division head (Gebietsreferent) at the Brandenburg State Architectural Conservation Authority, then moved on to independent work on heritage conservation research projects until  2002. During this period he was also active as an author and journalist as well as a lecturer at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald, the Free University of Berlin and the Humboldt University in Berlin. From 2003 to 2006 he was Acting Professor of Art History and Architectural Theory at RWTH Aachen University, then from 2009 to 2012 LOEWE Professor of Interdisciplinary Urban Studies in the Department of Architecture at Darmstadt Technical University. In 2012 he was awarded the Chair in Architectural Conservation / Heritage Sciences at the University of Bamberg, where he directs the Master's Program in  Architectural and Heritage Conservation. His research interests include the theory and history of architectural conservation, architectural and urban history and theory, and spatial theory.