Wilfried Rosendahl studied geology, paleontology, prehistory and early history, and zoology at the University of Cologne from 1986 to 1992.

While still a student, Rosendahl worked on various projects at museums and curated exhibitions on natural and cultural history topics.

The topic of man, climate, and the environment with a special focus on caves and cave contents was the main focus of research as a research associate and assistant at the Institute for Applied Geosciences at the Technical University of Darmstadt from 1998 to 2003.

In addition, Rosendahl continued to work as an external curator at various museums in Germany and abroad.

The focus of his teaching activities at the Institute of History at the University of Mannheim is on the topic of "knowledge transfer and museum practice" as well as the application of scientific methods in the historical sciences.