Abstract. The effect of raising temperature on spin-allowed dd-transitions of octahedral Cr a+ was studied for various point sym_metries of the Cr 3 +-bearing structural sites, i.e. 3 m and 3 with inversion center in spinel and garnets, respectively, or 32, 3, 2 and 1, lacking the inversion centre, in beryl, corundum, diopside and topaz, respectively. For this purpose, crystals of Cr3+-bearing spinel, pyrope, andradite, grossular, uvarovite, emerald, ruby, diopside and topaz were analyzed by microprobe, oriented, and measured in polarized radiation (except for the cubic minerals) in the spectral range 30000 to 11 100 cm-1 and at temperatures between 77 and 797 K. The evaluation of the intensities, half widths, and energy positions of bands due to Cr 3 +-transitions derived from 4Aa~ ~ 4r2g(F ) and ~ 4rlg(F ) as well as of Dq-and B-values derived, had the following results:In all cases, red shift of the above bands and, hence, independent on the site symmetry of Cr 3+, decreases in the Dq-values were obtained. The dependcies of Dq on T are nearly linear above room temperature and amount between -1.6% in topaz and -5.1% in pyrope in the temperature range studied. From this, values for the local thermal expansion of the Cr 3+-centered octahedra, ~1oo, were derived on the basis of the R~5_o-proportionality of lODq. Such values are consistently higher than those obtained from X-ray refinements, a method averaging RM_ o for all the respective octahedral positions.On increasing temperature, the half band widths increase. The evaluation for spinel, pyrope and uvarovite showed A ~/a to increase by about 60%, for both types of Cr 3+ transitions, in the temperature range studied.The temperature dependence of band intensities is complex, because it depends on the site symmetry and related symmetry selection rules: symmetry forbidden transitions increase strongly on heating. This was observed for Cr 3+ in centosymmetric sites 3 m of spinel and of garnets as well as for the symmetry-forbidden Cr 3 +-transitions in the acentric sites 32 in beryl and 3 in ruby.Where no symmetry-related selection rules exist, as inCorrespondence to: K. Langer point symmetry 1 in topaz, almost no temperature dependence of band intensities was observed. This holds also for diopside M 1-octahedra with point symmetry 2, although here the U-band should be forbidden at least in one direction. As for the intensity of the U-bands in spinel, pyrope and uvarovite, the observed intensity increase with T, agreed with that calculated on the basis of vibronic coupling with an odd vibration near co= 450 cm-1. In order to differentiate between the influences of static and dynamic relaxation of the Laporte rule on the intensities, the relative band intensities, subject to static effects only, were calculated for Cr 3+ in ruby and emerald. This proved the temperature dependence of the U~ and Y~-band, respectively, to be caused by vibronic coupling only.