Miners Mind - Chris Müller

From the life of an urban miner

Scion of a dynasty of miners.

Growing up in the Hausruck lignite mining area, Chris Müller was influenced by raw material mines, the harsh climate and the everlasting miners’ community. He was fascinated by the fact that miners with hammers, chisels and carbide lamps were the first to break ground and shine light where no one had gone before. At the same time, they had to be able to rely on each other – the mountain is unforgiving and demands its victims. The Bruderlade is an invention of the Kumpanen – better known today as the Gebietskrankenkasse.

Good morning Berlin.

Having escaped from the army in his mother’s car and washed up on the Greek island of Ios, Chris Müller ekes out a living with little savings and odd jobs as a bouncer. This is also where he meets his first great love, for whom he moves to Berlin, which at the time was not yet a gentrified bobo mecca. But it was a place to try things out. He earned a little less than the necessary small change by working as a construction assistant or playing extras in films. As a member and stage manager of a rock band, he got to know showbiz.

Linz is linz.

After ten years as a hooligan and roadie, Chris Müller returned to Upper Austria, where he studied “Sculpture and Transmedia Space” at the University of the Arts, got married and had two children. He made his first headlines as director and co-founder of Theater Hausruck, which brilliantly staged socio-political and historically sensitive topics. Together with Georg Schmidleitner and Franzobel, Theater Hausruck received two Nestroy Prizes.

In 2012, he was given the opportunity to breathe new life into the disused Tabakfabrik Linz. In more than ten years, he transformed the architectural jewel from a wasteland into a thriving quarter. Today, the former “Tschikbude” is an international showcase for brownfield revitalization, curated settlement of business people and tenants, economically viable development of a creative quarter and active community management.

A new life at 50

In 2023, Chris Müller will step down from his active role on the Management Board of Tabakfabrik Linz EntwicklungsGmbH and focus on his private commitments.

With his lifestyle label “Urban Miner”, he translates the virtues of the miners he holds in such high esteem into stylish fashion that smells of dolce vita.

He has recorded the wild waves of his love and life in a self-deprecating logbook that sucks readers through a well-dosed collection of anecdotes, zeitgeist and everyday philosophy in time with the decades. Loosely based on Moby Dick, he calls it “Watch out for the seagulls”, which can certainly be interpreted as a proclamation for sensing innovation.

With his companies CMb.industries and Chris Müller GmbH, he advises politicians, businesses, creatives and designers and is driving forward his passion project ATMOS Resort & Research.