Dr. Philipp Grassel
”As a scientist specialising in underwater archaeology and maritime archaeology and with a strong interest in maritime history, I cannot imagine a better place to work than the German Maritime Museum. Likewise, interdisciplinary research and the communication of science particularly appeals to me at the German Maritime Museum.“
Dr. Philipp Grassel, associate scientist, postdoc
About the person
Philipp Grassel is a research assistant/ postdoc specialised in historical archaeology, maritime archaeology and underwater archaeology. He holds a PhD from the University of Kiel and has taught as a lecturer at the University of Bremen. His research fields include shipwrecks, sunken landscapes, harbours and scientific diving. At the DSM, he has already been involved in the project Between North Sea and the Norwegian Sea: Interdisciplinary Studies on the Hanseatic League and has worked as a research assistant in the EU-funded project North Sea Wrecks. Within this project, he was able to co-curate the travelling exhibition Toxic Legacies of War - North Sea Wrecks, among others. In the current project Looking in From the Edge (LIFTE), which is a cooperation project between German and British research institutions, Philipp Grassel both supervised the underwater archaeological work and co-curated the exhibition Immer Weiter - Die Hanse im Nordatlantik. Under the direction of Dr. Kevin Martin, Philipp Grassel continued to be part of the project “Grundarfjörður Trade Port – Investigating the Underwater Archaeological Potential of the Danish Trade Monopoly Period.” In this project, parts of the area of the old trading port in Grundarfjörður, Iceland, were examined for maritime archaeological finds using comprehensive scanning and diving surveys. Together with Kevin Martin, Philipp Grassel also developed and carried out the project "From Bremen to Búðir – Investigation of a potential Hanseatic shipwreck in Iceland". This involved a closer examination of the old trading and port town of Búðir on Iceland's Snæfellsnes peninsula. The main focus was on clues to a Hanseatic wreck that might still be preserved in the shallow waters there.
Current Research project
From Bremen to Búðir – Investigation of a potential Hanseatic shipwreck in Iceland
Looking In From The Edge (LIFTE) The impact of international commercialization on north-west Europe’s peripheral communities 1468-1712: production, commerce and consumption in Orkney and Shetland
Completed projects
Curriculum Vitae
| Since 2025 | Associated Scientist at the German Maritime Museum |
2021-2025 | Research assistant at the German Maritime Museum |
2018 - 2021 | Research associate at the University of Bremen and the German Maritime Museum |
2013 - 2017 | Doctorate at the Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology of the Christian-Albrechts-University (CAU) Kiel |
2016 - 2017 | Research assistant in the research project "Between North Sea and North Sea: Interdisciplinary Studies on the Hanseatic League", located at the German Maritime Museum |
2013 - 2016 | PhD student at the Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at the University of Kiel. Supported by the Graduate School “human development in landscapes” |
2015 - 2025 | Work as a research diver in various archaeological, international and interdisciplinary cooperation projects. |
2014 | Training as European scientific diver at the University of Kiel |
Publications
Current publications
R. Edvardsson/P. Grassel, The Potential of Underwater Archaeology in the North Atlantic, in: N. Mehler (Ed.) Between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. Interdisciplinary studies of the Hanseatic League (in press).
P. Grassel, Ein Minenfund im Museum, Deutsche Schiffahrt – Informationen des Fördervereins Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum e.V., 1, 2024, 21-24.
S. Bergmann et al, Risk assessment of war wrecks – a comprehensive approach investigating four wrecks containing munitions in the German Bight/North Sea, Propellants – Explosives – Pyrotechnics, 49, 2024, 1-22. (Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/prep.202300322)
P. Grassel, Versenkt im Ersten Weltkrieg. Erforschung, Gefahren und Gefährdungen des Wracks des Kleinen Kreuzers SMS ARIADNE, Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet, 47, 2024, 339-363.
P. Grassel, Der Kleine Kreuzer SMS MAINZ. Erforschung, Gefahren und Gefährdung eines Kriegswracks aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg, Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet, 46, 2023, 237-270.
B. Holterman / P. Grassel (Hrsg.), Immer Weiter. Frühneuzeitlicher Handel in Orkney und Shetland (Bremerhaven 2023). (link: https://urn.dsm.museum/Holterman-Grassel_ImmerWeiter.pdf )
B. Holterman / P. Grassel (eds.), Orkney and Shetland. Early Modern Trade in the Northern Isles (Bremerhaven 2023). (link: https://urn.dsm.museum/Holterman-Grassel_Orkney-Shetland.pdf )
P. Grassel et al, Autonomous Remote Detection of Submarine Archaeological Sites in the Kiel Bight / Baltic Sea using AUV and ROV - A field report, Skyllis. Zeitschrift für maritime und limnische Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte, 23, 2023, 63-71.
P. Grassel et al, Toxic Legacies of War. Die Wanderausstellung zum Forschungsprojekt „North Sea Wrecks“, Deutsche Schiffahrt – Informationen des Fördervereins Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum e.V., 1, 2022, 27-30.
P. Grassel, Ammunition on wrecks. Researching military wrecks in the German Bight, Skyllis. Zeitschrift für maritime und limnische Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte, 22, 2022, 89-100.
S. Bergmann/ P. Grassel Mikroplastik und TNT: unterschiedliche Regime der Problematisierung von Meeresmüll, WerkstattGeschichte, 85, 2022, 55-75.
Memberships
Working Group on Maritime and Limnetic Archaeology (AMLA) of the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
German Society for Archaeology of the Middle Ages and Modern Times (DGAMN)
German Society for the Promotion of Underwater Archaeology (DEGUWA)