Johann Zenz

Born in 1960. Trained as a secondary school teacher of German, music, and computer science (BEd). Part-time MBA in business management at Danube University Krems. More than 40 years of teaching as a professor at the University College of Teacher Education in Baden, Lower Austria. Numerous publications for the school subjects German and music. Culture Prize of the State of Lower Austria for music (1988).

Mineral collector since 1971. Early focus on calcite and quartz crystals, since the early 1990s on agate and jasper. Extensive collection of about 6,000 high-quality agates and jaspers as well as cabochons. Website: www.achate.at

From 2004 to 2022, editor in charge of the Achatmagazin, the agate section of the magazine Mineralien-Welt. Monumental book series Achate/Agates (2005), Achate/Agates II (2009), and Achate/Agates III (2011), published by Bode Verlag. Numerous publications on agate and jasper in international journals. Latest book: “Achat, Chalcedon, Jaspis und Opal aus dem niederösterreichischen Anteil der Böhmischen Masse” (2026), on agate, chalcedony, jasper, and opal from the Lower Austrian part of the Bohemian Massif.

Lectures internationally. Since 2021, head of the international popular science project www.agates.click